The Ulster Reciter by Joe Mcpartland

The Ulster Reciter by Joe Mcpartland

How do you pray in a time like this when your mind is gone so fast, you can't think? How do you pray in combat when your mind is off? When we went to South Vietnam, I could go to the front line to fight the enemy, but I couldn't ride on the front of the bus, illegal in south. Draftee were ordered to join the armed forces, most of the men were from the south and southwest. President Kennedy had asked fellow Americans, asked not what your country can do for you but asked what you can do for your country. We were all drafted by him. No one knew for certain if this was the start-up that change the prejudiced of the country. I believed that we want to serve our country and would overlook our own prejudices in order to serve. We were together all of time in training and fellowship, on and off duty. We would overcome culture and ethnic differences. The army had a timetable set to get this division in the war in Vietnam (First Cavalry Airmobile). So the training was very hard and fast. This was the first time helicopters would be used to fight in a battle. The battalion commander Col. Moore had us well train and disciplined. By the fellowship we had become brothers before going to Vietnam. After fifty years, we still get together; we meet once a year. We would need this brotherly love to fight for each other in the bigger battle of the war. In combat, you don't have time to think about what you are doing; you just do it. Your training takes over. How do you pray in a time like this when your mind is gone so fast, you can't think?