I can feel it coming in the air tonight ( Phil Collins) Oh Lord.

When I first heard the lead the this song I started to feel something. Then the lyrics came and took me away.

I was in my old trailer that should have been condemed. Leaning against my woodstove. I appeared to be looking into the darkness. In my thoughts or flashback I was really with a company of GI's waiting to move out into the darkness. There was an arguement for I thought it was my turn to lead the company as the point man. In this effort I lost and our squad of 7 or so men went second. I could feel that something was going to happen........after a couple miles we were ambushed. In a flash half of the leading squad was gone...........

This song was on the radio the other day. This time it made me think of an article I read from an unknown author...

" When the Lord was creating Vietnam Vets "

Whe the Lord was creating Vietnam Vets, He was into his 6th day of overtime when an angel appeared. "You're certainly doing a lot of fiddling around on this one." And God said, " Have you seen the specs on this order?

A Nam vet has to be able to run 5 miles through the bush with a full pack on, endure with barely any sleep for days, enter tunnels his higher ups wouldn't consider doing, and keep his weapons clean and operable. He has to be able to sit in his hole all night during an attack, holding his buddies as they die, walking point in unfamiliar territory known to be Viet Cong infested, and somehow keep his senses alert for danger. He has to be in top physical condition existing on C-Rations and very little rest. And he has to have 6 pairs of hands."

The angel shook his head slowly and said, " Six pair of hands.... no way." The Lord Says " It's not the hands that aare causing me problems......It's the 3 pair of eyes a Nam Vet has to have."

" That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.
The Lord nodded. " One pair sees through the elephant grass, another pair here in the side of his head for his buddies, another pair here in front that can look reassuring at his bleeding fellow soldier and say "You'll make it" ....when he knows he won't.

" Lord, rest and work on this tomorrow. "
" I can't," said the lord. " I already have a model that can carry a wounded soldier 1,000 yards during a firefight, calm the fears of the latest new guy, and feed a family of four on a soldiers paycheck." The angel walked around the model and said, "Can it think?" " You bet ," said the Lord. " It can quote much of the UCMJ, recite all his general orders, and engage in a search and destroy mission in less time it takes for his fellow Americans back home to discuss the morality of the war, and still keep his sense of humor. "

" This Nam vet also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with ambushes from hell, comfort a fallen soldier's family, and then read in his home paper how Nam vets are baby killers, psycos, addicts, killers of innocent civilians."

The Lord gazed into the future and said, "He will endure being vilified and spit on when he returns home, rejected and crucified by the ones he fought for. " Finally, ihe angel slowly ran his finger across the vets cheek, and said, " There's a leak....I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model,"

" That's not a leak, " said the Lord. " That's a tear." " What's the tear for?" asked the angel. " It's for bottled up emotions, for holding fallen soldiers as they die, for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American flag, for the terror of living with PTSD for decades after the war, alone with it's demons with no one to care or help."

" Your're a genius. " said the angel, casting a gaze at the tear. The Lord looked very somber, as if seeing down eternity's distant shores...... " I didn't put it there, " He said.

( Author unknown )