SEE AND GO BLIND

My time with the 25th Division Forward included a weekly trip to B-32 Special Forces Camp in Tây Ninh East. I usually rode along with one of the intelligence officers, dropping off documents on troop movements in Tay Ninh Province. The trip took ninety minutes. We spent half of it in their team house, sucking down cold beers.

One day they had a USO show in the club. We decided to stay.

Twenty-five Special Forces men filled the room. Half of them wore Tiger stripes.

Then two showgirls appeared, dressed as Big Bird. They danced around the room and sang songs from back home. Two more numbers went by. Then they spotted me.

I saw them eyeing me. I sank lower in my seat. I knew what was coming.

They pulled me onto the makeshift stage. The band struck up “The Stripper.” They started stripping me right there, in front of everyone.

I was almost twenty-five. My baby face and my obvious embarrassment had the room roaring — especially once they got me down to my shorts.

For a few minutes, we all forgot the war and the killing that went with it.