When we went up Route 14, the women would follow us on those, ha ha!, Lambrettas that they could fit four or five people. The prostitutes had to go where the money was.
If I watch Hamburger Hill, it's so realistic, it hurts. I don't need to see movies. The best Vietnam movie is Platoon.
I'd go back. It was a great nation, with friendly people.
When I was taken out, thank you, Jesus, it was three or four days before the Tet Offensive, when all kinds of hell broke loose. They took me to base camp to grab my things, and then from there, they took me to Saigon. That night, everything got bombed. All hell broke loose. They attacked Saigon too, and three of the guys who had gotten there before me were killed, and didn't make it home. They died on their last day.
As the Tet Offensive started, I was on a plane, Braniff Airlines, going to Oakland, and when I got there, I kissed the ground. Thank you, Jesus! I was never so glad to see America.
You go somewhere where you don't have any rights or privileges, where it's "Yes, sir! No, sir!" I was so glad to be out of there. I wanted to get out of my stinking clothes, out of my uniform, turn all of that crap in.
My friend Frank called me and said, "I don't want you to go home for a couple of weeks. I want you to come to West Covina and stay with us." His brother was a realtor out there. Frank said, "Listen, my brother has a house, but nobody has bought it yet, so you can stay there. We'll hook up for breakfast and dinner and, you know, check out some things in West Covina." Frank took me to this house looking out over L.A., and I was thinking, Damn, these people are living large! Ha, ha!
That was my first experience of L.A., and my first experience of dealing with people on that level. I understand what money means now, and I want to have money.
Frank said, "There's a sickness in your mind that you need to let rest before you go home." I tell you, I could have gone back and kill everybody in my family. Sat down, had a meal then gone out to do what I had to do. That's why I tell people, "You have to understand. When someone teaches you how to kill, it doesn't go away." So, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!
I went to Frank's wedding in Omaha. Everyone was as white as snow. I was the only black person.
I've never been married. I proposed to a girl, but she thought it was a joke. We were working together. I had a Corvette, and she had this chiffon dress on, with all the pleats. The Corvette had leather seats, so she kept saying, "I'm going to get all sweaty."
My old neighborhood was African American, and it was respectable. People had jobs and could afford their houses. When we moved out of North Philly, my parents were paying $75 a month for mortgage on a four bedroom house. Now, I wouldn't even drive down 52nd Street.
The economy changed. People lost jobs. Everything changed.
The system screwed everything up.
We need more jobs. Jobs and education are the solutions, especially education.
People don't value composure. When they passed the law that you couldn't beat your child, the little bastards got cocky and became who they are today. Like my brother said to his 14-year-old son, "I'm going to kick your ass and whoop it to the max, and I'm gonna put the phone in front of you, so if you want to call the police, call them, but you better make sure you have a place to live because you won't stay the f*ck here."
If I watch Hamburger Hill, it's so realistic, it hurts. I don't need to see movies. The best Vietnam movie is Platoon.
I'd go back. It was a great nation, with friendly people.
When I was taken out, thank you, Jesus, it was three or four days before the Tet Offensive, when all kinds of hell broke loose. They took me to base camp to grab my things, and then from there, they took me to Saigon. That night, everything got bombed. All hell broke loose. They attacked Saigon too, and three of the guys who had gotten there before me were killed, and didn't make it home. They died on their last day.
You go somewhere where you don't have any rights or privileges, where it's "Yes, sir! No, sir!" I was so glad to be out of there. I wanted to get out of my stinking clothes, out of my uniform, turn all of that crap in.
My friend Frank called me and said, "I don't want you to go home for a couple of weeks. I want you to come to West Covina and stay with us." His brother was a realtor out there. Frank said, "Listen, my brother has a house, but nobody has bought it yet, so you can stay there. We'll hook up for breakfast and dinner and, you know, check out some things in West Covina." Frank took me to this house looking out over L.A., and I was thinking, Damn, these people are living large! Ha, ha!
That was my first experience of L.A., and my first experience of dealing with people on that level. I understand what money means now, and I want to have money.
Frank said, "There's a sickness in your mind that you need to let rest before you go home." I tell you, I could have gone back and kill everybody in my family. Sat down, had a meal then gone out to do what I had to do. That's why I tell people, "You have to understand. When someone teaches you how to kill, it doesn't go away." So, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!
I went to Frank's wedding in Omaha. Everyone was as white as snow. I was the only black person.
I've never been married. I proposed to a girl, but she thought it was a joke. We were working together. I had a Corvette, and she had this chiffon dress on, with all the pleats. The Corvette had leather seats, so she kept saying, "I'm going to get all sweaty."
My old neighborhood was African American, and it was respectable. People had jobs and could afford their houses. When we moved out of North Philly, my parents were paying $75 a month for mortgage on a four bedroom house. Now, I wouldn't even drive down 52nd Street.
The economy changed. People lost jobs. Everything changed.
The system screwed everything up.
We need more jobs. Jobs and education are the solutions, especially education.
People don't value composure. When they passed the law that you couldn't beat your child, the little bastards got cocky and became who they are today. Like my brother said to his 14-year-old son, "I'm going to kick your ass and whoop it to the max, and I'm gonna put the phone in front of you, so if you want to call the police, call them, but you better make sure you have a place to live because you won't stay the f*ck here."
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