It's now time for just the terror with Nick Guerra. the

The Silent Mother

I've kept my mouth shut for almost 50 years.

I've kept my mouth shut for almost 50 years. Why the hell would I start talking now?

Well friends, terminal cancer will do that to you.

Things you thought you'd take to the grave suddenly becomes things you desperately want to tell someone, anyone.

I won't bore you with a long lament about my time in Vietnam. It was shitty.

It was shitty for everyone involved. It's particularly shitty for me as I was 5.3. If you don't know what being particularly

short during the Vietnam War entailed, let me fill you in. You arrive in a country and a senior

officer points at you and says you'd be a good fit for tunnel commandos.

Wanna join? Now technically it's a question.

As service in those platoons was voluntary but it sure shit didn't feel like a question, felt like an order.

So that was my burden for the war, to be a tunnel rat, climbing down into deep, dark, dangerous tunnels

filled with people and animals who wanted to kill me.

Usually we operate in that huge tunnel complex near Saigon, but not on that day.

On that day we were ordered to investigate a tunnel complex way up north west of Dong Nong.

Two of us were sent into the tunnel that day, myself and Benoit.

Now usually, black guys managed to avoid becoming tunnel rats on account of them being so tall.

But Benoit was burdened with a double misfortune of being short and black during the Vietnam

War.

Curse I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

I was first into the whole and Benoit followed. We both had our model 39s, some

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