The phrase "all american girl" fit her. She had looks. personality. and the boys loved her. Tammy was going to be a Doctor. With her grades, college would have been a free ride. Why then, she was asked did she she join the military?"" I want to go and make a difference in a persons life",she said. In boot camp, the old timers made every move they could on her .This was no place for a girl! unless it"s on your back. I have no idea how she found the guts to fight off the advances and to be twice as good as any man to pass.
She made it to the "sandbox" and got assigned to driving transport down dangerous roads where many had died before her. Her truck was first in line. No one wanted to drive with her until other women started to. Soldiers will tell you war can be very boring with 5 minuets of hell. One day her time came to hit the mine. Two women with her were dead. She was bloody, but crawled to the truck behind her. One soldier was alive, she knew enough to pull him free and start first aid. The soldier looks at her and gasps," well if your the last person I will ever see on this earth, I am glad it"s a girl," "Hold on soldier, this girl knows how to stop the bleeding your doing all over me and I will catch Hell, If you leave me.
He starts to gargle, his ability to even to take a breath is almost done. Still no medivac. she has seconds, he is now starting to turn purple. She takes his pocket knife and makes an incision in the throat area, finds a way to clear his airways. He starts to look better. She had never even tried to do something like this.
He talks later to her, and asks"why would you come here?" She smiled answering "maybe I was to be in the truck in front of you and save your life." I also wanted to be around to do something in this world" He looked at her and said"don"t die on me, okay?" I can"t let myself fall for you here because I have lost many of my dearest friends," their eyes met. they walked away.
Tammy watched little girls in villages run as she approached. Acid on a little girls face is some punishment for wanting to learn. The man's life she saved was named Scott. She asked what happened to him, no one would tell her.Three more bombs went off and she managed to make it through all of them.
One day a new Captain calls for her to report to his office. She does as ordered, closes the door, salutes and then sees a naked captain. He gives her a direct order to take off her clothes. She refuses. In the military,you don"t refuse a direct order. He can ruin any soldier from any advancement and maybe right to jail. She did do what the captain ordered and everything else he asked for. The battle,however had just started, now she has filed a complaint against this man, is out of the military and has memory of certain marks on his body. When she is done, I wonder if he will even get a pension.
Tammy is not her real name, but the story is quite true. I knew Women in Vietnam, I promise you, I never met a coward.Finally,Women are starting to be able to have more
choices in War. Admire them,they have had to to overcome hurdles,they should not
have had to,just to be a soldier.
9:55 AM PT: I wrote a diary last week,so bad,I promised not to write until after my brain scan. One of my docs reminded me of Hypo-mania and Bi-Polar disease
which I have. I need to slow down and think with more clarity. So,we shall see how this works.