Message from Nam by Danielle Steel

Author:Danielle Steel
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780307566652
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2009-05-05T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Ralph and Paxton drove back to Saigon the next day with their crew, and they were all quiet on the drive back. It was impossible to see death and pain and the loss of men and not feel it.

“It gets to you, doesn’t it?” Ralph sat quietly, sitting next to her. He had let the sound man sit in the front with their driver.

“Yeah.” She nodded. She was still thinking about the boy from Miami. What would his life be like with one arm? Or worse, what if he hadn’t lived through it? And what were they fighting for over there? No one seemed sure anymore. It all seemed crazy.

“You’re going to get an education here,” Ralph said. “Most of the people who stay for a while are never the same again.”

“Why?” She was still looking for the answers.

“I don’t know … they see too much … they care too much while they’re here … they get bitter and angry and disillusioned. They go back to the States and people hate them, and treat them like murderers. No one understands. Back in the States, people are listening to the radio, and hanging out in bars and buying cars and chasing women. They don’t give a shit what’s happening here. They never did. And they don’t want to hear it. Viet Nam? Where’s that? Who cares? It’s just a bunch of gooks fighting with each other … fighting with each other, and killing us. But everyone forgets that. These boys over here are getting their asses shot off for nothing.”

“Do you really believe that?” It hurt her hearing it, especially when she thought of Peter. It was easier to believe that he was a hero for dying here. But the truth was that, even to her, he wasn’t.

“I do. And the sad thing is, so does everyone else. Nobody really cares what’s happening here. I don’t think they even understand it. I’m not sure I do. We’re trying to save the South from the North, like we did in Korea. But this isn’t the same thing. The people in the South are fighting us too. You can’t even tell who’s VC and who isn’t. Shit, most of the time I think they all are. Christ, look at the kids. Most of them would blow your face off with a grenade just as soon as look at you. And knowing that makes people crazy. Nobody knows who to believe anymore, who to respect, who they’re fighting. Half the grunts over here have more respect for Charlie than they do for their own COs, the VC fight harder than anyone. And the ARVN, the southern army, is a joke. See what I mean? It’s all crazy. And if you stay long enough, you get crazy too. Keep that in mind when you start to think about staying. The day you stop wanting to catch the next plane home about ten times a day, that’s the beginning of big trouble.” He was teasing her a little bit, but he was sharing some important truths, too, and she knew it.

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