Miracles & Other Wonders by Charles E. Sellier

Author:Charles E. Sellier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

DADDY, COME HOME

Most of us have had the experience of getting "stuck" in a moment from the past. For some it's a pleasant experience, a recollection we like to replay over and over again. Sometimes it's a remembrance we'd just as soon forget but somehow can't let go of.

For ex-soldier Tommy Ellis, finding the light at the end of the tunnel was going to take a miracle.

In the final weeks of the Vietnam war the fighting closed in on Saigon itself. American forces were being withdrawn as quickly as possible, but those whose job it was to protect that withdrawal saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war. It was even more difficult because these men knew if they could just stay alive a few more days, maybe even hours, they would be out of this hellish nightmare and on their way back home.

Tommy Ellis and his buddy John had fought together side by side across half of Vietnam. Now they were part of the force protecting the final withdrawal from Saigon and they had sworn to protect each other no matter what.

It is a slice of memory from one of those last bitter hours that invades the sleep of Tommy Ellis and, night after night, pulls him screaming into consciousness.

It is always the same. The confusion of everyone running and cursing as they hear the incoming mortar rounds. Tommy and John dive for cover as the round explodes. They both wind up in the same shallow hole and as the smoke clears he is aware that his friend isn't moving. Sniper fire begins splattering all around him as he hoists John to his shoulder and races across the open ground to the only cover he can see, a large fallen tree.

Tommy screams for a medic as he gently places his friend on the ground, cradling his head and shoulders against his breast.

"You hang on, Johnny boy," he pleads, "you hear me? You hang on."

In the tortured silence between gunshots Tommy tries to coax some sound from his friend's lips. Instead John slowly grasps a small chain around his neck and pulls it loose. With his last ounce of strength he hands the chain to Tommy. He takes it without looking at the small silver medal that dangles from the chain. John slumps against his chest, his body drained of life.

"Noooooo!" The scream erupts from the depth of his nightmare and Tommy sits up in bed, staring into the dark.

Instantly he knows that he is home in his own bed, but that doesn't relieve the anguished, rapid breathing or the cold sweat that covers his chest and neck. Automatically he looks over at his wife, Colleen, who has been awakened like this for God knows how many times since their marriage.

"Did I wake you again?" he asked apologetically.

"Yeah," she replied sleepily, "as usual."

"Sorry," he said, lying back in the dark.

"It's okay," she whispered sympathetically, "I understand,"

"I wish I did," Tommy said to himself, "I wish I did."

The years since the war had passed, but not the memories.

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