The Old Man's Terces Raw
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The Old Man’s Terces Raw
The old man, who sits on the living room couch and is silent
He watches the wheel of fortune and Chuck Norris’s Texas Ranger
He steps outside to take a smoke, about a thousand times in one day
He coughs roughly here and there, I don’t think nothing too much of it
He goes outside and cleans up the sidewalk, picks up trash and sweeps it as well
He comes from a place, where you must keep your place clean,
So when people come over, it is respectable and lovely
He is on call, Call to pick me or my brother up, anytime we desire
We take this for granted, while he does it because he loves us
He is quiet, but boyyee when he’s angry, he’s ANGRY
I used to think he was crazy, until one day, I learned something strange
He. Is a War Veteran, WOAH I thought really?
I never thought much of it
The old man was silent, he never spoke a word about his past life
He never spoke too much about the home land,
He of course never mentioned a war ever at all, except for that he fought in a war
But I was young and could care less, all I wanted to do then was play with toy soldiers
He would line them up, the way he used to line up back then
Recent years you know, I’ve grown a lot
One day I ask him, something about the war and back home in Laos
That is when the Old man’s silence broke
He spoke with dignity, but humbly
I sit amazed at what I hear
Imagine yourself in a man’s shoe who’s responsibility as a young man is to protect his village and his family
Growing up with nothing as much as he has today, he was convinced
Convinced by the white man to fight a war that wasn’t his
They tell him, “ Yo I’ll give you $$, weapons, and ammo.”
They also tell him, the communists, they are going to destroy everything you have, your home, your land, and your people
Was this true? Would the communists have done so? We will never know
So he goes and joins the fight, fight and fight
Imagine for 30 years, you wake up at dawn to work the fields and come home at dusk to leave again to go off and fight
Imagine for 30 years your friends and family, dying right there next to you
Imagine the bullet flies and misses you, but hits your friend and now he too is dead
He had a strong heart he said, “ I had a very strong heart, I could’ve died many times, but I had a strong heart.”
I sit stunned and lost
I don’t know what to say more, what is there to say now?
So continues on the story he tells
He says, The Laos were bad, they let the communists in
Well at least this is what I think, due to the language barrier of my youth
I could not interpret fully his statement, but I make it to come to that
I think maybe the Laos gave up, or sold him out, who knows, only he does now
The Americans also leave, the old man says “ It is not their country, They come to fight a war that is not their home. They give us the supplies to fight.” He says it as he did not care about it, but I don’t think those are his true feelings
Once again the language barrier interferes with my life
I ask him, did you run? The communists came and you guys ran right?
He says yes, we ran. First we helped fight with the Hmongs and helped them escape
I think Wow, hill tribes working together, what a wonderful dream
Finally we arrive, to the destination of our everyday lives
It was a lot to take in you see, too much for me
I told myself one day, a video will be the highlights of my life and the old man’s life
As we go inside, I thought, he fought very hard, almost died, and gave up everything he had, for a new beginning.
I hugged him, and said in broken Mien as best as I can, “ Grandpa, thank you for fighting so hard and risking your life for us. Thank you for bringing us over so me and Austin could have a better future. Thank you. I love you grandpa.” He merely understands and nods and mumbles “ Hmm”
I look into his eyes and they are red and tearing
I thought, what have I done, I brought back painful memories, how could i?
But if I don’t I will never understand him or his life, or my life, or my family, or my people’s
I go into my room and think about everything, I too begin to tear, nearly broke down explaining the story to Austin
One day, I promise I will know the whole story
But for now, I tear and think about what lesson he just taught me
This old man is my grandfather
This is the old man’s Secret War when you flip Terces Raw over
And this war is my war
Deep down inside the war rages on until I find the courage to end it
