MASKS: A soldier’s perspective

Upon arrival home from Vietnam I went to retrieve my dog, a crippled black Lab that I had left with a friend. The ’68 Tet Offensive had made all the news but I was stunned when my friend said, “I didn’t think you’d make it home, so I shot your dog.” I turned around, walked away, and started my adult life.

Forty years ago after moving to Hauser, I joined the volunteer fire department and learned to be a firefighter and medical first responder, a 24/7 volunteer commitment. Over the following 26 years, we never once asked a medical patient or a victim of a fire what their political affiliation was, and, in fact, I still don’t even know the political affiliation of most of the volunteers.

Due to hearing loss that I incurred during the 1968 Tet Offensive, military exposure to asbestos which resulted in COPD, and age, I chose to retire from the fire service a few years ago. Leaving the fire department was harder than leaving my childhood dog when I was drafted.

The volunteers I left still make a 24/7 commitment; they are also at constant risk from COVID-19. Now when I see someone without a mask, I turn around, walk away, and hope that the shot they fired at me missed and that none of my fellow volunteers or anyone else gets hit by their negligence.

WEAR A MASK!

JOHN NEILS

Hauser