
Author's Blurb
Thirty years
after the Vietnam War I’m in the middle of
yet another counseling session, trying to
make some sense out of it when Dad makes a
surprise visit.
I’m still hiding from the effects of a war
that remains like a poison in my system. A
nightmare that won’t go away. The sound of
Dad’s voice takes me to a place I haven’t
been before and it’s a surprise because he
died when I was six months old.
I spent 1969 on patrol in the rice paddies
and jungles of Phouc Tuoy Province with the
rest of my platoon. In Nui Dat we lived in a
relatively safe place beneath the foliage of
an old rubber plantation. There, we had sand
bagged tents and sand bagged bunkers built
by Australian troops before us. Most of the
time however, was spent outside the wire
where my only protection was my wits, my
training and a thin layer of jungle green.
Right now, I look like a mild mannered
accountant and I act like a pillar of
society. But behind this façade, I’m in
turmoil. Distraught by the memories and
haunted by a fear of the unknown. Despite
the dramatic shift in time and space, since
Vietnam, I’m still in survival mode and
stumbling through a personal minefield
that’s about to explode. It’s a pathway to
self destruction.
My coping mechanism isn’t working as well as
it used to and I can’t believe the extent to
which I go in suppressing my natural
instincts. I’ve got so many restrictions
around what I do that I’m not being who I
am. I’ve avoided this confrontation for so
long, but it’s finally caught up with me.
One way or another my life will change
forever.
The Counselor’s questions and my search to
find the truth lead me into three major
battles over the next ten years. The battles
with my marriage, my job and my way of
living. It’s a formidable undertaking, an
apocalypse even. There is no going back and
in the ashes of my devastation I’m looking
for my voice. It’s my essence, my spirit. My
reality hangs in the balance. I must find
it.
Regards Errol Pentony (ex 5pl 9rar) |