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Mon 9 Dec, 2002 09:19 pm
Today is a pretty good day - all my joints seem to be doing
the function for which they were designed, as far as I can
tell so - ALL IS WELL!!! So onward - as I had yet another
doc appt, I had to get more dressed than my lounge around
the house clothes. so I chose a dark blue RipCurl surfer
T shirt that has the greatest wave picture on the back. One
of those grand, north shore Oahu beach BIG waves, the kind
of beauties that you might see in surfing competitions, out
there wherever the really wild waters are.
It made me begin to think of Hawaii......
***I have been to Hawaii twice in my lifetime. The first time,
was to meet my husband (at that time) who was serving
his one year tour of duty in the army during the Vietnam
conflict which, at that time, was 1968. He was picked up
directly out of the jungle, an army foot soldier. A man who
had been walking "point" - I believe that was the expression.
Essentially these were the guys who took turns going first
and it was essentially up to them to kind of "smell" or "sense"
or "hear" or by some means, be able to tell when they were
about to run into some of the members of the "other team."
All of the American fellows were given what was termed an
"R & R" for the guys in Vietnam. This was essentially a
"vacation from the war," & every soldier was entitled to
one.
(You could pick Hawaii or some other place)
Basically the army or whoever just picked them up out
of the jungle, took them to a relatively safe place, got them
cleaned up & smelling better & looking rather sane & normal
& loaded them up on a plane & yeah!!!!
***THEY ALL GOT 14 DAYS OFF FROM A WAR!!!!! 
Twas truly an amazing experience, I am sure, for each &
every one of those young men. It hasn't yet been written about
that I know of - but I can tell you this; it was STRANGE!!! 
The planes dropped them off at the Oahu airport & then bussed
them all into Waikiki - where all the wifeys (& a few kids) were
waiting in a building right in downtown Waikiki Beach.
[That building is still there - I saw it 6 years ago when my 1st grandson
was born on Maui.]
We all dutifully stood & waited right here to "meet & greet the
boys" as soon as they get bussed in from the airport. OK!
They all looked a little odd, strange, a bit dazed, confused,
paranoid & they all (I found out later) were carrying copious
amounts of marijuana & other drugs as well. The stuff grew like
weeds over there in the jungle.
***One thing that I have never been able to understand about
this situation especially, since the war WAS primarily in the
jungle & hand to hand fighting & killing - was why did American
soldiers smoke cigarettes?? Or smoke anything at all?? A non
smoker can smell it from 50 feet away???
***The strangest and most horrible of all was the way these men
jumped at loud noises, woke with screaming nightmares, always
seemed to be on the lookout for something - some nebulous
danger ahead of, or behind them - always looking, always full of
fear.
And they called THIS a vacation?
As for me, I remember being a very strong swimmer, SO I
thought I could handle a little body surfing and I went swimming
in the water on the north side of the island in December 1968,
and came within a gnat's a** of getting myself pounded to
death by the sand & surf. Little did either of us know how close
we may have come by death's door that year & passed it by.
***My more recent trip (6 years ago this past August) was to
be present for the birth of my 1st grandchild. We spent almost
a month. It was a beautiful experience. It was nothing like the
trip in the year of 1968. It was a wonderful vacation and a
beautiful place to spend as much time as is humanly possible.
***But every time we passed by "that building" I shivered a
bit. Memories of the day before he had to go back. He was
getting really short time in the field, by the time he got his
R & R...so the idea of NOT going back occurred to him many
times. But he was an idealist, & a person who was loyal to
his committment. Why did THAT war destroy so many family
lives after it was over - compared to WWII?? I've read
several books about the Vietnam era, conflict etc. It has
helped me to understand only slightly what happened to these
men and why. Nothing about it was right or fair or just.
Only the little individual men who went to fight, and lived or
died, were right or fair or just. The people behind them - well,
there was no fairness nor justice to be found anywhere on this
side of the solar system.
You brought back some memories babs, I do remember the days of R&R from Viet Nam. My husband at the time was Navy and on a carrier so we did not get to go he did two tours in the Gulf of Tonking Yacht club. But when he got shore duty we picked Japan. And I came home from Japan via USS Wilson one of the last passenger ships with a US registery. We were 15 days at sea total, 10 from Yokohama to Honolulu, 3 wonderful days in paradise and then off for five more days to sail under the Golden Gate.
vacation from a war
Well, hey there Joanne! who would have thought
I would find another of the R &R women on this
site??
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