Jimmy Pappas

What I Learned in Vietnam

That it’s always best to avoid hand-to-hand combat.
That the black market is a great place to go shopping.
That a flush toilet deserves to be called a throne.
That tear gas has earned its name.
That rats can grow to the size of a small dog.
That some soldiers get their kicks by taking pictures of mutilated bodies.
That marijuana can be laced with opium to make it addictive.
That morphine users on the street keep a dog nearby for serum.
That prostitutes can be just as worthy of love as any other person.
That it’s always nice to be called Number One.
That bigotry exists everywhere in the world.
That you should always accept food from someone who can’t afford to give it to you.
That chopsticks are used to push rice into your mouth.
That human beings get swept away by forces beyond their control.
That we must keep relearning how people are always the same, only their culture is different.
That, in general, soldiers on all sides try to do their job right.
That, in general, civilians go to a war zone to make money.
That cigarette, beer, and weapons manufacturers make a fortune on war.
That wars must be separated from the soldiers who fight them.
That men fight in a war because they love it.
That every father is proud of his son going off to war.
That soldiers who return home from a war zone suffer from terminal ennui.
That human beings can live through the most devastating of injuries.
That saving the life of every soldier wounded in combat may not be the best idea.
That only a small percentage of personnel involved in a war are combat soldiers.
That war goes unnoticed without cameras to film it.
That freedom is an illusion I never want to live without.
That once you enter a war, it will never leave you.

Jimmy Pappas won the Rattle Chapbook Contest with Falling off the Empire State Building and the Rattle Readers Choice Award for “Bobby’s Story.” His nominations include two for the Pushcart Prize, one for the Best of the Net, and two for a Touchstone award. He moderates a weekly, themed Zoom event called “A Conversation with Jimmy and Friends.”