Romney And His Dog
The Romney dog and what Mittwitt did really reveal a person has no soul and less common sense. It reveals such a complete state of self absorption that one cannot wrap my head around it. What is more amazing is that the entire family was so silent about that.
Dogs and animals are not human but they do have consciousness and are living beings endowed with many of the emotions we have. We have an obligation to treat that animal with dignity as much as possible.
Now believe me when I was in Vietnam I was not the kind to seek combat and I was only out a month before I became a mail clerk and company clerk. I did what I could to give "my guys" what I could because they were covering my behind. So I was NO John Wayne and had no desire to be.
The story I am about to tell you is one of my what the H was I thinking moment. The headquarters support contingent of my company had just come in to a place called LZ Stud several miles from Khe Sahn which had been taking over 1000 artillery shells a day for many weeks. We were there to support Operation Pegasus one of the biggest air assaults in history using hundreds of Hueys in an effort to break the NVA siege. We did but at a terrible cost.
We started digging in a bunker the evening we got there and had a 10 by 10 2 feet deep by morning. That morning we found out we lost 30 KIA with multiple wounded. Col Runkle's ship got hit and crashed killing all but the XO who was captured and tortured. Our company our captain was hit and we lost three KIA. So when I came back to the area that morning I was in a terrible mood after having to do ID for those from my company. It was a gruesome experience.
When I got back to the area I noticed some 105 howitzers tilted 85 degrees peppering a nearby fountain. I looked over toward our mess tent and saw this cook who incidently looked a bit like a frog. He was a nice guy but very slow and he was doing a record 100 yard dash. Then I saw an explosion in an ammo dump about 400 yards away in the five seconds that all this happened I realized time to boogie fast. I jumped into our uncovered bunker as some shells started coming nearby. Probably Russian artillery the NVA used.
When I peak up there was our damned company mascot (a dingo) sitting about 40 yards away. I instantly jumped and jumped the dingo before he knew what was happening. He resisted but I insisted and jumped back in the bunker and sat on him until it was over. Timing is everything because about 30 seconds later fire came in about 30 yards from where I was. Thanks to our pilots they found the battery and bombed it.
I have thought about that from time to time and wonder what was I thinking to do that because it was probably a pretty dangerous move. One thing that civilians who have never seen war is that artillery fire is hard to determine it can come in anywhere. And it is brutal and extremely terrifying. And you literally need a diaper when it is real close.
As I said earlier I am no hero, I was thankful where I was and was not likely to volunteer then. And I guess I would have done what I needed to. But you only know the moment you are tested. The next day I was ordered back to An Khe and was very grateful.
I am really a pacifist at heart. I feel so sad that we can't all get along.
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