Kira Carrillo Corser © 1993

Out of the Army Now

Staff Sergeant Patrick Baker, recently retired
after 20 years in the Army, is angry. At his retirement
briefing a few months ago, he was told that the Army
might cut health benefits to retired military.

Yeah, I'm angry.
Let me tell you something.
I was drafted into the Army
during the Vietnam War,
and when I finished my time
I planned to go back to school,
become an electronics engineer,
go back to my island, Jamaica.

But the guarantees sounded good.
They promised me health benefits
for the rest of my life. So I stayed in
and believe me , there was wear and tear
on my body. Lying on cold ground,
lying in the snow, I've got nerve damage
in my hands and feet from lying in the cold.

For twenty years, I've been stressed
in the military, in Vietnam, in Korea,
Honduras, and Germany, no wonder
I have blood pressure problems. A few
months back, my pressure was 200 over 124
and that's enough to give somebody a stroke.
I couldn't work for three months, I had headaches,
swelling in my ankles, I felt completely washed out.
All this wear and tear, they promised me health
benefits, and now they're stepping back?

Yeah, I'm angry, but I've learned to let it go.
If I really put myself into it, get super angry,
I'll get tight again, my blood pressure will run up
and I just might end up killing myself.

Frances Payne Adler © 1993