THE BATTLEFIELD

THE BATTLEFIELD

I remember the stories that the Viet Nam vets told me about jungle warfare, about how Charlie Cong set land mines, booby traps here and there to blow up the American soldiers, about how the Cong would seek away into tunnels and “disappear” The army would send in “tunnel rats” to flush them out, armed with 45s, combat knives, they would go in after them.

I was still too young for the Viet Nam engagement, I enlisted in 72 and they were just sending in volunteers. But who would want to volunteer for a war that wasn't even in your backyard? Well, there are always two sides of the story.

Pop used to tell me about his adventure in WWII, he was a radio repairman, he would repair radios in blown-up tanks. His weapon was the M-1 rife, although he never made it into actual combat then, he still fought in a battle later on after WWII was over, a different war in which he changed weapons. Later on, he used nerve gas canisters. When I was growing up, he showed them to me too.

“Son” he told me one day, “you'll be going into combat one day soon, and you need to choose your weapon that will do the most harm. You have land mines and nerve gas, use them both!”

Sure enough, I went into combat, fighting a forever-fighting enemy, relentless, a strike-and-hide type warfare. They used to call us “mother green and her M-16” as the M16A1 rifle was the most popular in Viet Nam and after wards. I chose nerve gas as my weapon of choice. It would render the enemy “dead” no survivors, no prisoners, only a “body count”. Bullets would have little effect, too many of the enemy. What would two or three bullets do against an army of one-hundred or more, but launch a nerve-gas attack, that's a different matter.

I saw the movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” and saw how nerve gas left soldiers dying in the trenches, and “John Boy” survived that, only to get a sniper bullet in the head because he was stupid enough to poke his head up over the trench to sketch a silly butterfly.

Another soldier told me how to make land-mines, that would blow up the enemy once they came out of hiding, those that would survive the nerve gas. Well, once a soldier, always a soldier as the saying goes. Who says you can't be a rabbi and a combat soldier at the same time. Sure, you can.

So, here I am, on the front lines, the battle isn't even far, just a few yards away.

The enemy just comes out under the cover of darkness, then at dusk, they go back into hiding, only to await the setting of the sun, to come out and wreak havoc again.

The enemy has their weapon, they use germ warfare, biological hazards, so, it's a battle of nerve gas against germ warfare, who will come out winning?

I am still on active duty, still in combat. This morning was no different. I got up, and while under the cover of darkness, slowing crept forward, making sure I was not heard. I had my nerve gas canister with me, I learned that quick spurts were just as effective holding down the trigger. I have enough nerve gas to last a few months. I found out the enemy's bunker, I had to be quiet, ever so quiet, as long as it was dark, I could get them. It had to be an element of surprise, So, I crept up, still under the cover of darkness. Then, I struck. I opened fire!

I opened the bunker door quick as a flash, and launched the nerve gas, and three cockroaches hit the floor. They fell from the pantry closet door and hit the floor in agonizing pain. I remember the army drill sergeants often had us do the “dying cockroach” position.

Those three cockroaches will never again climb on top of the cans of spaghetti “O”s, and around the boxes of elbow macaroni. Yet more will come out of the woodwork, reinforcements will come. The war will continue, another battle will be fought.

I put the nerve-gas canister (RAID, Roach and ant killer) alongside the pantry door, and went to make some coffee. I got dressed, got my school badge and opened the front door to meet the cats. I gave the cats their morning meal and left for the high school. Dulles Vikings is playing the Clements Rangers this week, hope the “Vikings” win. (I'm a Viking).

I'm thinking about making and using land-mines now. All I need is some pre-sweetened cool aid, some powdered sugar and boric acid, mix it all together and cut a Dixie cup in half, put them under the counter, under the frig, and other places the enemy can gather and formulate nocturnal attacks, once they get their feet in the mixture, lights out! They're goners, even though they don't know it.

On the spiritual front, we fight a similar battle. The WORD of God says that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities of darkness, in a way, cockroaches can symbolize demons, they are part of the ever darkness, Demons, or fallen angels fight believers daily, trying to ruin believer's testimony, break up marriages. Our defense is prayer, and to be in the WORD of God, to know the Torah is our best weapon, For HaSatan, the war is over, he just doesn't realize it, the war was finished at Calvary’s cross.

On the earth, the fight goes on, tomorrow, another battle, another 3 or 4 cockroaches will bite the dust, 3 down, 500 + to go, every day, except on the sabbath of course. On that day, they'll have time to regroup and plan more strategies, have more baby cockroaches, invade the pantry and try to get into the food. Everything, though, is sealed, even the brown sugar, they can't get in.

This is just another morning in the day of the Rebbe.

Rabbi J. Ben Avraham

Comments