What is Real?

What is Real? Asked the Rabbit one day. Real isn't how you are made! It's a thing that happens to you! – Velveteen Rabbit

One of the questions that arise most often from readers, “Are these stories in Boot real?” is also one of the most difficult to answer. The Boot is a fictionalized account of a group of Marine helicopter crew chiefs in Vietnam. I cannot emphasize the word fiction, enough. As to what is real? That’s a different story. The war in Vietnam was all too real for those who fought there and for the Vietnamese that lived through decades of war. For many, back in America, the Vietnam war became real when the telegram came in the mail or when Johnny came home with only one arm or one leg. What is real, then becomes a matter of perception. If a six-year-old runs across the lawn and spikes a football, is that just as real to him/her as the high school, college, or professional athlete spiking the ball in the end zone? I would say yes, it is just as real to the six-year-old. The war in Vietnam was real, but were there perceptions that varied? Of course, those back in America had a completely different perception than the American soldier. And both those groups had a different perception than the Vietnamese fighting the war or the Vietnamese civilians trying to survive.

I started writing Boot as therapy, which helped me through a difficult period. I also started reading everything I could lay my hands on about that war. Both endeavors, reading and writing, helped me to understand that each individual has her/his own unique perception of reality. A perception that makes his/her testimony on the witness stand almost unreliable, according to most attorneys. Nevertheless, they are still individually unique perceptions. I found this in my reading also, each author presented a unique view of the war. Whether it was Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, or Harold Moore and Joe Galloway’s We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, they only connected on a universal level. Yes, they were about the war and the stories, though totally different, shared episodes and events that will ring true with anyone who has ever served in combat. Yet they were missing something for me. There was a missing piece of the story about the Vietnam War that I thought I might share and add to the totality of the stories about that war. Knowing that the roadside attraction in American history, the Vietnam War, would always remain a mystery, no matter how many stories are ever written about it. Vietnam happened to many of us… and it made us real.

Until Next Time,

I Remain,

Just another Zororastafarian Crew Chief seeking to share a piece of his humanity with the world…