Tímea Sándor
This story is about a man. A man whose fate was decided before he was born. He was an ordinary American citizen. Except, at this time, normal did not mean day-to-day existence that aligns with social norms, lack of problems and typical experiences, no. At this time, normal meant transitioning into the violent world the minute he was “ready” for it. But there should be no age where a human is ready for violence. He had a rough life already. He had covered up all his scars mentally and physically, because that was the norm. When he was “ready” he was sent to Vietnam to the war. Of course, he did not know what war really is, why it was happening, who they were fighting with. When he got back home, he continued his life, like normal. But he couldn’t cope. He couldn’t get back to normal. Because what he saw was not normal. It was terrible. He still can be considered lucky. His friend passed in the war. He should not have passed. But it happened. Too many lives are lost. Not just the ones who pass away. The veterans, who fought in wars they had no clue about. Their grieving families. Just because they are not officially dead, that doesn’t mean that they are living. They are just not quite dead enough yet to be considered not living, except inside. This is not normal. War is not normal.