email to jonathan hayes

i knew a few people who served in vietnam. one, the uncle of my first serious girlfriend, dave was an old hippie. he dropped out of college and his lottery number came up. he told the army that he was a pacifist and didn't want to serve in a combat mode. so the recruiter told him if he signed on for a couple more years he'd stay out of harm's way. dave was trained as a radio operator. stationed on a firebase. they were shelled by nva everyday. he could hear the incoming rockets just like the movies, a loud whine and you could gauge where they were going to hit by the sound. always in fear, until one day he's in the latrine, dave's a real nut for sci-fi and gobbled at least oh i dunno 10 novels a week when i knew him, and was reading his book when he heard the familiar yells of INCOMING and the whine of nva rockets. he thought fuck it, when you die you die, and continued reading his book.