The Vietnam War

I finished high school four months prior to my 18th birthday. By this time, my country was heavily engaged in the Vietnam war. I was very much subject to being drafted into the service and sent thousands of miles away to a war zone. Often true, but it isn't always true that the things we fear will surely happen. At the time, I never became a 'runaway to Canada' nor a draft dodger. However, I must confess that I feared being caught up in the lottery draft and shipped off to Vietnam. But as it turned out, I served my country in the war zones of the streets of Chicago. For six years I worked with street gangs, alcoholics, and drug addicts. I often feared for my limbs and life as I walked in and out of high rises unfit for human habitation. They told us that our young men were in Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism. So many of them lost their limbs, and far too many paid the ultimate sacrifice. Many of them who were fortunate to return home alive were not welcomed by thousands. It is known as a very unpopular war. However, may all who died in combat for our country be honored and never forgotten. Anyway, I can never forget the daily headlines and reporting of fatalities. Also, I cannot erase the pictures of the helicopters lifting Vietnamese people out of harm's way at the close of the war. Although it was such a sad scene, it portrayed the sorry saga of our human race. Unfortunately, the war in Vietnam where we supposedly fought and died for democracy, was a loss. We did not stop the domino effect that we feared. Communism won that war, as the South fell and we departed. Nevertheless, communism would suffer massive loses in the years that followed. 05182017cj PS Contest, Foreign Wars, Lewis Raynes