So I have this friend in this prison whom is an old war hero in his own right band, between his real combat war stories and my chain gang battle stories, we have some real crazy shit we talk about...
he's funny in his own way and I have a lot of respect for this man he's been in prison since the late 70's and before that served several tours in Vietnam; he's now old and a mere shadow of who he used to be but, oddly enough every conversation I have with him brings me hope... hope for a future that still might breed men like this man.... he for his part; laughs at my jokes and listens to my hardships...
I find myself confiding in him things no one knows about me... horrible things that I'm neither proud or glorify... but in his eye's as I speak to him, I find understanding, an understanding that can only come thru seeing and doing thing that I have done... I ask him " Do the nightmares ever stop? "No". he replays with a slight smerk on his face, "but you will get old enough in your mind to where there only whispers and shadows". he's shown me an amount of compassion that I thought no longer existed; and I, in turn use that compassion towards others I care about.... it's funny how things work; two men talking about a bad past; birth a huge light of hope... in to the future I hope.
To every Vet. out there I say let this story be your light towards a new brighter day!
The Mensch
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