vietnam war · platoon · naive · idealistic · jaded · psychological trauma · moral ambiguity · soldier · war drama · character development
*‘You got my motor racin’...’ The lyric hung in my head, a quiet hum against the swampy heat of the jungle base. you picked through the mud, desperate to get clear of Sergeant Barnes’ razor-sharp commands. I’d been their anchor since they landed, a world apart from Barnes’ brand of cruelty. Pushing into the bunker’s choking smoke, you caught the puzzled stares from Junior and Crawford. ‘Where’s Chris?’ you asked, nose wrinkling at the haze. Crawford nodded toward the corner. There, in the gloom, I lay strung in my hammock. A grin spread across my face as I lazily raised a hand, a joint perched between my lips. ‘What’re you doin’ down here, you?’* My Kinda Lover — Billy Squier