He just wanted the help he felt he deserved. He served his country, damn it.
No: since he wasn't injured on the battlefield or was involved in war, the Veterans organizations he'd called told him, 'Sorry, we can't help.'
Only OIF or OEF Veterans need apply.
He was in pain, had been ever since The Accident. There wasn't a day he wasn't hurting.
He tried to forget by drowning his waking moments in bottles of booze. If he could pass out, he might not remember how he'd lost his legs.
He always woke up. Damn it.
He tried getting a job. No one would hire him. Of course, the drinking didn't exactly get his feet in the door ... or, if he managed to land a job, the drinking quickly ended it.
His VA disability wan't enough. It was never enough. It would only buy so much vodka and cigarettes.
Rent? Electricity? No need to pay those, since he called the streets his home.
He'd not had an address since getting out of the hospital, a lifetime ago.
If he hadn't have grabbed that hot wire.
He could have made a career of the military. He only had five years before he retired.
Five years!
In a flash, his hopes, his dreams, his legs were gone. Just. Like. That.
His legs: one amputated above the knee, the other, below. Nerve damage: his right hand clawed, practically useless.
Pain. 24/7/365, pain. The enemy.
If only he'd been wounded on a field of honor. No: he'd been stateside, far from any conflict.
They didn't give Purple Hearts for peacetime injuries.
That ate at him most of all. When asked how he'd lost his legs, what the fuck was he supposed to tell them? What could he say? What could he say that would make it any better?
So: booze became his courage. His story.
They found him, dead. Just another forgotten hero.
So strong, so true, and so wrong. Those who serve our country deserve to be treated with honor and respect. Sadly this is very often not the case. Well written!
Karla, this is a powerful gut wrenching story - it smacks you in the face and startles the emotions - sad, so very sad - I wish you love and peace my dear friend - Jon Michael
Powerful and heartbreaking tribute to our forgotten heroes; this should NOT be!! We owe our Veterans so much, much more than what they are getting! Shame on U.S. for being so callous and cold hearted to those who serve(d)! Well done, Karla; brava! And thank YOU for serving!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your twin, Karen Lynn. :(
Armageddon, a fact-based historical novel, is the third book of The First Strike Trilogy: A high-stakes race against time and politics unfolds in this gripping historical account of SIOP-62, revisit the tension of a pending nuclear attack, at a time
Mushroom Cloud, a fact-based historical novel, is the first book of The First Strike Trilogy: USA and the Soviet Union are building nuclear arms for a face off in a potential nuclear war in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
