"What are we fighting for?" (1532 hits)
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Rating: 1.88 on 39 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Bigmike (View user info) at 2005-01-14 00:43:45 EST
George picked up the box that he had hidden in his closet. It was in his secret place, down behind the shoes, under a loose floorboard. He replaced the board and came out of the closet, closing the door behind him. He ran over to his bed and jumped up onto the mattress, holding onto the box tightly. He never spilled the contents of this box. Inside were the most precious of things.
Memories.
George carefully removed the top of the box and immediately saw the photo album. He picked it up gingerly and held it in his hands, the nostalgia of what was inside almost overpowering him. He looked at the cover and read the words aloud as if they held some magic in them.
"Daddy."
He said it over again.
"Daddy."
He set the book on his lap and flipped open the cover. Immediately he was overwhelmed by the age of some of the photos. The old black and whites of his parents; of his father in particular were very intriguing. George was 14 and it had been a long time since he had opened this book to look at the contents.
The year was 1974.
George scanned the strong young man and beautiful young woman in the photos. He couldn't believe how pretty his mom had been back then. He was just beginning to realize at his tender age what a lucky man his dad was. After flipping through a couple of pages, George came to a section in the book with a handwritten label across the page. That handwriting read "Vietnam".
"Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun."
His dad was a strapping young 30 year old in 1967. Having been in the service for a few years, he was sent to Vietnam to do his duty as a pilot. George remembered looking into his fathers eyes the day he left.
"I love you son. I'll be back before you know it."
"I love you too daddy. I love you so much."
George had wanted to hug him forever.
He watched the plane with his father in it take off and soar into the sky. His mother let him stand there for as long as he could see the plane in the sky. George stood there extra long because he wanted the plane to turn around. He wanted his father to come back. He was trying to will it back. The plane just kept on going.
"And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die."
George thought the pictures were cool. Here was his father standing in front of some building with strange letters on it. He was arm in arm with his buddies and they were smiling from ear to ear. Here was another of his dad at a table inside some kind of tent. There were four other men around the table and they were all holding playing cards. There was an undetermined amount of money sitting in the middle of the table and there were beer cans everywhere. George thought they looked like they were having a good time.
Another picture showed some aerial views of countryside. There was no writing on the back of these photos and when George had asked his mother about them, she didn't know where they were taken. They were of open fields and jungles and such. George didn't know why they were in the album but it gave him a sense of where his father had gone; of what he had done.
"Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die."
George looked at the rest of the pictures and closed the book. He set it to the side and reached into the box. Here was a watch. A Timex. It had a solid gold bezel as was stated clearly on the back. George looked at the face of the watch. The crystal was cracked and had been cracked when he first came into ownership of it. This was the watch his dad had worn around his wrist the whole time he was in Vietnam. Through battles and fighting. Through numerous flying missions that watch stayed on his wrist. His mother gave it to him one day as she was looking through all his fathers belongings, remembering.
"Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war a-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die."
George had walked into the house one day about a year ago and clearly heard his mother crying. He followed the sound into the living room where he found his mom on the couch clutching a letter in her hands. She was much like George in the fact that she liked to reminisce. The hardest day, of course, was when they had both learned of his fathers crash. But days like these, when he found her crying over letters and personal objects, well they were tough too. It was this particular day that his mother had given him the watch. Through her tears she managed to tell him that his father wanted him to have it. She told him how important that watch was to his father and how he should take care of it forever.
George promised that he would. He took the watch and then sat down next to her, hugging her for as long as it took for the tears to go away. His and hers both.
"Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box."
He now sat here in his room looking at the watch. He reached into the box and pulled out the old set of his fathers dogtags as well. He held them in between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, casually rubbing his fingers over the raised letters on the metal. Without thinking he slipped the dogtags around his neck and the watch over his left wrist. Through a haze of tears he looked into the box again and pulled out a letter. The address on the letter was:
"George Meeks
4312 Sentinel Blvd.
Hamilton, N.Y. 13746"
It always made him feel like a grown up when he read that address. It made him feel the same way when he was nine years old and had been reading it for the first time. He opened the letter and started reading.
"My dearest son. I hope everything is going great for you and mommy. You are in my thoughts and prayers every day and every night. I am sending you this picture of me so that you know how much I love you."
George looked into the box and pulled out the small framed picture of his dad. In the photo, his dad was holding a big sign in his hands that read "I LOVE YOU GEORGIE" in bold black print. George could see the love in his dad's eyes and in his smile. George wiped the mist from his own eyes, sniffed, and turned his attention back to the letter.
The box was full of letters.
It was going to be a long night.
"And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die."
User Reviews
Submitted by TheSpook (user info) at 2005-03-29 13:28:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Supercords (user info) at 2005-03-29 13:17:41 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-03-25 00:15:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2005-03-25 00:07:56 (#)
Ranking: 2
I just read it again and it's even FUCKING BETTER! Damn you for making me a teary-eyed pussy. Hope nobody walks in here...
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2005-03-25 00:05:21 (#)
Ranking: 2
THIS WAS FUCKING AWESOME. HOLY SHIT. Dude, I'm fucking sitting in my shop tearing up. What the shit, this was fucking unbelievable.
I'm glad you liked this.
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2005-03-25 00:07:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I just read it again and it's even FUCKING BETTER! Damn you for making me a teary-eyed pussy. Hope nobody walks in here...
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2005-03-25 00:05:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
THIS WAS FUCKING AWESOME. HOLY SHIT. Dude, I'm fucking sitting in my shop tearing up. What the shit, this was fucking unbelievable.
Submitted by Jungle_Jimanee (user info) at 2005-02-28 11:26:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Like a breath of fresh air
Submitted by espo (user info) at 2005-01-22 17:52:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment Necessary.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-01-16 03:41:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very moving.
Submitted by pokeysrevenge (user info) at 2005-01-14 23:44:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
sniff.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-01-14 23:27:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
loki, you are absolutely hilarious.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:36:29 (#)
Ranking: 2
I meant to comment, but someone walked into my cube.
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Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:17:45 (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-01-14 21:12:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Kamargo (user info) at 2005-01-14 11:59:45 (#)
Ranking: 2
I dont have words to describe how much this kicked ass
Submitted by Chroniclysm (user info) at 2005-01-14 16:12:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Whoa.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-01-14 13:34:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
....
Submitted by comicbookguy (user info) at 2005-01-14 12:13:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Kamargo (user info) at 2005-01-14 11:59:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I dont have words to describe how much this kicked ass
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2005-01-14 11:25:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by mrwolf (user info) at 2005-01-14 07:02:40 (#)
Ranking: 2
Lump in throat... won't... cry... at... work...
Bastard.
---------------------------------------------------------------
PLUS
FUCKING
TWO
Submitted by polyamorousaj (user info) at 2005-01-14 10:44:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by DamianD (user info) at 2005-01-14 10:28:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very thought provoking.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-01-14 10:10:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow! You are great.
Submitted by Rocktsrgn (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:42:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Read "The things they carried." It's along these lines, but non-fiction.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:36:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I meant to comment, but someone walked into my cube.
Submitted by Jay_Bassman (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:31:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This post moved me to tears... but it was weird. While I'm reading it, I'm tearing up and at the same time, thinking of the Christopher Walken speech in Pulp Fiction.
Submitted by Pharathyse (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:31:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Donitsu2002 (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:19:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Durae (user info) at 2005-01-14 02:21:11 (#)
Ranking: 2
I dont' sknow what hsis says but i slieks it. serisoulsy.
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having fun with the fire water much?
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:17:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by wookie (user info) at 2005-01-14 09:12:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2005-01-14 08:51:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
*weeping*
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-01-14 08:39:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Durae (user info) at 2005-01-14 02:21:11 (#)
Ranking: 2
I dont' sknow what hsis says but i slieks it. serisoulsy.
Holy shit Durae.
I don't even want to know.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-01-14 08:38:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
The watch part made me think of Pulp Fiction.
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-01-14 08:16:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by mrwolf (user info) at 2005-01-14 07:02:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Lump in throat... won't... cry... at... work...
Bastard.
Submitted by Shagabah_Jones (user info) at 2005-01-14 07:01:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
George sounds like a suck ass little pussy
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-01-14 06:28:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Uhm... <sniffle>
Submitted by Stin (user info) at 2005-01-14 04:42:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Impassive-Digressive (user info) at 2005-01-14 02:36:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Another great post Mike. (Even if I couldn't help but hear Christopher Walken in the background).
"The way your dad looked at it, this watch was your birthright. He'd be damned if any of the slopes were gonna get their greasy yellow hands on his boy's birthright. So he hid it in the one place he knew he could hide something: his ass. Five long years, he wore this watch up his ass. Then when he died of dysentery, he gave me the watch. I hid this uncomfortable piece of metal up my ass for two years. Then, after seven years, I was sent home to my family. And now, little man, I give the watch to you. "
Submitted by Durae (user info) at 2005-01-14 02:21:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I dont' sknow what hsis says but i slieks it. serisoulsy.
Submitted by sparkle_pink (user info) at 2005-01-14 01:24:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-01-14 00:52:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2005-01-14 00:47:23 (#)
Ranking: 0
Ha, I was listening to that song yesterday. You forgot the part that goes, there's about three hundred thousand of you fuckers out there, I want you to start singing.
It's a cool tune.
For those of you that don't know, the artist is Country Joe McDonald and the Fish. Name of the tune is "I feel like I'm fixin to die rag"
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2005-01-14 00:47:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Ha, I was listening to that song yesterday. You forgot the part that goes, there's about three hundred thousand of you fuckers out there, I want you to start singing.