I haven’t thought about self-fulfilling prophecies for some time now, even though I have had my suspicions that many of the major experiences in my life could have come about because I thought about them beforehand. A good example of this would be my Vietnam experience. Before I enlisted in the Navy back in 1966,…
It is not so much that I mind what people want to believe in, but I do sometimes get frustrated when they are unwilling to discuss why they believe what they do. I remember a time, a few years back, having a discussion with the then Director of Mission to Unreached Peoples. I had crossed…
I can still remember that first time when I bowed to the Buddha. Such a simple act… and yet perhaps one of the most defiant and difficult things I have ever done in my life. I have not lived the life of a saint, and in fact, I have been a rebel from as far…
Many years ago, I worked as a counselor at a youth center in the southwestern part of the United States. Most of my clients were of Native American or Hispanic ethnicity and were referred to me by the police. Occasionally, however, I would be asked by the local schools to see students from other ethnic…
ME: “Well, Claude, between the two of us, there is little doubt who is smarter. What has taken a lifetime for me to write, you can write in seconds. What do I, as a writer of human experience, have to look forward to when you could write a novel in just a few minutes?” CLAUDE…
I would not classify myself as a coward and have, at times in my life, acted bravely in the face of danger. Most men, and increasingly more women, wonder—as did I in my youth—how they would respond when under the fire of enemy guns. It is an age-old question that cannot be answered until you…
Confused and disheartened, tears trickled down my face, dampening the sheets, as I lay half awake in my bed. ”What is the point of my being,” I asked, “if all that I do comes to naught? Who am I and what is my worth?” I shouted to nobody there. “Why are you so hard on…
The idea of predestination has always bothered me, and yet, as I experience Life, it seems that we are not all created equal. Some appear to have been given special qualities for successful living, while others lack the ability to cope with Life’s obstacles. We all experience trauma, some more than others, and trauma leaves…
Most of us, I am sure, can remember singing OH BE CAREFUL LITTLE ONES WHAT YOU DO as a child. Perhaps it was Sunday school or maybe Kindergarten that it was introduced to you, and if you are like me, you can still do most of the actions. I didn’t know it then, but this…
In a recent post on Next Door, I referred to people, who found fault with my post, as “ignorant”… which of course set off a barrage of responses, both favorable and disapproving of my position. I do not wish to make enemies of my neighbors and in my defense would like to share with you…
Having lost three good friends in the past couple of months, all of them much younger and appearing in far better physical condition than I, it has occurred to me that each day I live, each word I speak, and each writing I post, may be my last… and for that reason I would like…
Lovable is not a word one would use to describe Chhang … and he was well aware of that. At one time, before the sores started, his looks were a little more tolerable but he never did gain weight in his lifetime, and having AIDS was something he could not hide from others. Too weak…
I came across this photo of Leroy the other day and realized I still had tears left in me that I haven’t cried for him and for many others. Leroy took my place on point some years ago. He was fairly new to the field and the Captain wanted him to get some experience. That…
As a writer, I enjoy creating characters for my fictional stories. Each character develops its own personality as I type it into existence. Although they may only be a name to me in the beginning, by the end of the story, they have become an intricate part of the completed work. By creating them, I…
In 1984, U.S. Congressman Henry B. Gonzales awarded me the Purple Heart in San Antonio, Texas. I was not given it in 1968 after I was wounded because Operation Mallard Duck was a suicide mission, and I was not supposed to be rescued. I was the last survivor off the field, and although the medivac…
