War can destroy a person…

His nightmares didn’t start right away, neither did his screams.  He was tough and didn’t think he would be one of them who suffered at night reliving the horrors of the days gone by.  After seeing so much destruction, he would thrash around and his screams merged with everyone else who had to endure the terrors of the war.  He was listed in Special Forces and led his squad as a sniper.  He was a proud solider and fought for his country.  He enlisted in two tours in Vietnam and was honoured to do his job.  His life was not his own though, it belonged to the mercy of his Country and ensuring the safety of others.  Part of his squad’s responsibilities was to protect the people of the non-hostile villages from the Vietcong, but more often than not, when they arrived, it was too late.   The Vietcong fought a guerrilla war of ambush, terrorism and sabotage and the terror they caused was everywhere.  The Vietcong raped the woman and left them for them for dead, murdered the men and slaughtered the children.

The first tell tale sign of their terror was the smoke in the air, you could see it from miles away.  The squad always knew the outcome of the villages before they arrived.  Once you have smelled death, it stays with you; you can never rid yourself of it. 

His hatred of them was more powerful than fear, he wasn’t afraid to die anymore, he had been shot 3 times and stabbed more times than he can recall.  He saw so much death, things he still can’t bring himself to talk about.   War destroys a person; there is no coming back from that, no coming back to who he was before…