At 18, landing in Vietnam, I realized I was in trouble quickly—a southern boy from south Mississippi as close to having a superiority feeling over any black man. I tell the story of me forgetting to put water in my canteens once leaving toc, and a Black man from Detroit offered me a drink from his, which I turned down promptly, stating I wouldn’t say I liked drinking after anyone. He looked at me, smiled, and returned his canteen to its holder. Not many days after we were in a firefight and lost many killed and wounded, every canteen on my rucksack had been hit with bullets are shrapnel,not one single drop of water to be found in any one of them. This canteen was handed to from a friend and it had the best water I have ever drank. (life lesson)

I discovered to my amazement, that in protecting any American soldier, color had no meaning. Blood bullets and explosians cared less and had no preference at all, rich, poor, officer, non-com or lowly private it killed all. I noticed that blacks stayed around blacks, whites stayed around whites,but there was always some from both races that kept the two groups as one. This is not say we were seprated in battle, in two groups, it is just that in down time each group had more in common in their group.

I never heard once in the year I was in country hate of someone because of their color. In fact my upbringing of judging people by color was tested many times. I had to accept that things were not as I was taught, which in the end, made me a better man. I was taught by my new best friend the man that gave me the canteen when thristy, that I needed to stay more over with other friends, because his friends were talking. At 18 I had know idea why or what he was talking about but I did back away from his friendship, for awhile. Later I was told the same by my friends I needed to stay within my group bounds. The lessons of life had many strange twist and turns, so many rules. The great equalizer was being wounded or killed all of a sudden you were the main man because the ones that made the rules were gone.

Being called it racist because I believe equality is all that the government should give any American. The need and time for the special treatment is over. The time for truth across the nation is upon us. Making one group of Americans different from another will cause a great upheaval in future time. It matters not that your great grandparents rode on the Queen Mary or ware indentured servant, or a slave on a slave boat, we are all Americans,freedom should be the only gift to become a american.