THERE WAS NO PAST OR FUTURE – ONLY THE ECHOING NOW WHERE THE DARK ANGEL WAITED
Beneath the thick and matted shroud of green where time was no more than a feverish coil, spiraling forward and backward in equal torment, we moved—not as men but as shadows pressed thin against the damp skin of the world. The jungle breathed around us, not as a backdrop but as a living, hungry thing, whispering lies and truths alike in the same breath. To think of past missions was folly. One might as well speak of past raindrops in a monsoon.
We carried no myths of heroism, no polished armor of valor—only the laughter, coarse and biting, that kept us sane. Like the day Hercules, mid-squat behind a thicket, was caught pants-down by gunfire, rising like some startled, wild saint, his Johnson dancing madly as bullets cracked the air. We howled, even as we ducked for our lives.
In that place, the calendar lost meaning. Mornings were untrustworthy to deliver light, and night did not promise rest. The jungle gave no answers—only more silence, more eyes behind leaves. Past and future dissolved in the wet rot of now, and all we could do was push on with our guts clenched like fists.
There were days we expected death to walk beside us, a dark whisper at our shoulder. And still we marched, sweating salt and fear, not because we were brave, but because we had no other choice. To return with all brothers intact was a miracle enough—a nod from whatever gods still haunted the edge of darkness.
Often, I wondered if meeting the Dark Angel ahead of time might soften the blow—some quiet acknowledgment before eternity unlatched its doors. For in that crucible, there were no sides. Only men, raw and stripped of all but breath, bound by suffering that cared little for their tongue, skin, or creed.
Vietnam Uncensored – 365 Days in a Nightmare, available on Amazon (link below) opens that door for you. Walk through it. Read the first chapter, hear the story on NPR, at https://vietnamjerry.com. Proceeds aid veterans via the Kaufman Fund. A book, a memory, a cause. All waiting.