-- After a couple more minutes passed, the numbness
finally left my throat and I found myself just barely able to speak. Addressing
the Captain in a hoarse voice, I asked respectfully, "Am I going to
die?"
The Captain, still wearing his pleasant expression
and speaking louder now, answered simply, "Yes. It was an accident. My
daughter’s instrument was not set correctly."
Stunned, I was preparing to ask another question
when the Captain continued, "Do not speak. It only makes it worse. You
should run to your truck, if you can. That will let you die in a soft place.
Your government will come for your body after sundown." -- Chapter #4
-- There was only time enough for me to look at my
watch, 12:23 a.m. before the attack siren sounded. There was no use running. I
knew where the shells would land. Slowly I took hold of the nearest chair and
quietly sat down. I sat there crying, my helmet falling to the floor, my head
in my hands, my heart sick, wishing God had picked me instead of him. The
second shell gave an unusual, muffled sound. The other thirty-five shells all
landed in the swamp. -- Chapter #15
-- I boarded the bus to Binh Thuy. As I waved goodbye
to my little friend who was standing alone, in the distance by the orphanage, I
wondered how many Americans came to Can Tho to feed the orphans, and how many
came to make them. -- Chapter #13
--It slowly came towards my weather shack, rotating
to my left as it did so. This maneuver left it not more than an eighth of a
mile from me, and I could see its entire left hand side. Now, facing northwest,
and sideways to me, it began slowly and silently passing by. Up on top of the
vehicle in the front, where the left hand front running light should have been,
was a gaping hole, perhaps ten feet across. A large rectangular sheet of the
thin outer metal surface next to the hole was draped down over the side,
perhaps concealing additional damage. At the time, I guessed that the large
craft had experienced some type of meteor damage while traveling out in the
deep space that exists between the stars. There wasn’t much to be seen when I
looked through the windows into its darkened interior. A few of the rooms
underneath the gaping hole appeared to have been storage rooms and were now
filled with wreckage--. Chapter #1