I have had the dream a lot. It's a nightmare. Ivan shouldn't be surprised to hear I have had the dream again. I watch the news. These days even if you don't watch the news, you watch the news. It finds you. It's everywhere. The whole world is Vietnam now. The surprise is that everybody in the entire United States is not having the same nightmare as me, every single night.Because my dream is a crystal clear vision of torn flesh and burned flesh and the end of everything we know, all dying there in the scorching jungle of Vietnam. Four great friends, one mighty beast of a friendship shredded to bits by that war thing going on.All four of us die every single time. Sometimes it's in a different order. Sometimes we all die at once. Sometimes it's a wall of fire and sometimes a hail of bullets, stabbing, slicing, exploding or drowning.But always we die, every time.And it's my fault, every time.Because I let it happen. Which is why I can't let it happen.Which is why we have the pledge. Excerpted from I Pledge Allegiance by Chris Lynch All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
