I just checked the forum and saw all the responses to my intro post. Thanks to everybody—I was amazed and gratified. You guys really made my day. My week. My month.
I was talking to my wife this afternoon about how deep feelings can go between young men in combat. I’d just finished revising something I’d written and explained to her how writing about friendship between soldiers has always been one of the most difficult things for me. When we were kids in war, we didn’t realize how important the bonds were between us. When we lost a friend, we didn’t realize the full impact. It reminded me of when my uncle and then my grandfather died when I was six or seven. I cried and felt terrible, but I was too young to fully appreciate the loss. It was the same in the Nam. We missed our lost friends, but I think we miss them more now than then. That’s the way the Army wanted it. They whisked away the bodies before the blood dried, and no one talked about the dead. A week passed and it was like they never lived. That pissed me off. It still does. It changed my life, made me shy away from friendship, kept me alone. I know you guys have gone through the same thing and realize how important the bonds between friends can be.
You are lucky to have each other. And I feel pretty lucky, too. Thanks.
