MEMO  OF  A  VIETNAM  MARINE
                                
                                


     Some thirteen years following my own involvement in that now
referred to  "Vietnam War",  I have come to realize I am not, nor
ever was alone.

     I did  not go  off to  war alone,  nor did  I singlehandedly
engage the enemy in mortal combat !

     Rather, I  am one  more  Vet  discovering  his  common  bond
between his brothers and sisters.

     Physical  scars  do  not  one  day  miraculously  disappear.
Rather, with  time widen, becoming much more hideous to view.  So
it is  true for the psychological scars that are branded into our
memories.  They are not really forgotten - just put on hold.

     Disney World is suddenly Charlie's World, and I'm in it !

     Living color.   A  childhood  is  replaced  with  the  cruel
realization that war  respects no one man's innocence.

     I have spent the better part of my post war existence trying
to forget,  or at best, not admitting to my difficulties stemming
from that era.

     Two marriages  and numerous  jobs, not  to speak  of several
medical problems later.  I get smacked in the chest with reality,
literally; as if the Hulk himself has taken hold of my fat, hairy
torso, and slammed me against the wall.

     Face to Face with facts.

     No fiction and no more  crap !

     It happened, I was there. Now what am I to do about it ?

     As I  watch my  five children transfixed in their, Wonderful
World of  Disney, I  know I  must act  before  it  becomes  their
nightmare too.

                                
                                
                                
                           C. Russell
                          November 1987