August 18, 1973
“You’re such a useless man who does nothing in this house. I can’t believe mom didn’t divorce you yet. And if you didn’t realize yet, she has been cheating on you for the past two years!” replied Annie fiercely.
When she uttered those words, my heart sank.
All I had ever asked from her was for another pen because the previous one had run out of ink. Ever since Nam, I have been expressing my feelings about the war through a journal. Bleeding out my entire life story, leaving in every gruesome description so these thoughts would not chain me up. My hope was for my daughter to read these countless pages and realize that it was not my choice to leave her. The only way I can truly speak to them is by the words I write.
March 16, 1971
Arising from bed for morning’s work, I sense the strong whiff of freshly brewed coffee. Along with the new day, I was once again awoken to the sound of the radio which stood on top of the wooden cabinet. Today, 348 men had been drafted to the terrifying war. Every man in town was uneasy, none of us wanted to join in a never ending war but we all loved our country dearly. They say that when you sing along to the Star Spangled Banner, tears roll down your cheeks. But are you willing to bleed red stripes for the sake of your country? I shuddered at the thought of leaving my wife and two beautiful children all alone in Afton without their father. But they also realized that on any day I would be sailing over the ocean blue for such sake.
-Napalm incident
-Innocent children—losing their parents- with clothes torn and bruises, etc.
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