As I sit in church every Sunday morning, I can’t help but notice my pastor’s actions. He walks up to the pulpit, lays his bottle of water and bible down, and begins his sermon. Throughout the sermon, he begins to lose his voice and gasps for air. He immediately grabs his water and begins to guzzle it. As the congregation waits patiently for the sermon to resume, I begin to reflect on the hard times my pastor has gone through to get here.
My curiosity got the best of me as I made the decision to further extend my knowledge of his past. I knew he had been to Vietnam and also battled cancer, but I had no idea that the two were linked to each other. We met at our church in Tullahoma, Tennessee; I was okay with this setting because it was only place that I knew Brother Bobby from. When …show more content…
It all started in 1971; his brother had just returned home from war, so Brother Bobby was ordered to be sent over. In spite of the fact that this was troublesome for him, as well as his family, he knew he had to go. After the long trip overseas, he finally arrived in South Vietnam. “Even though the war was going on, it was a beautiful country. It was a tropical area filled with beaches, jungles, and plantations," he said. As he told me this, I seen a sign of joy come across his face. Being the positive person that he is, he was able to still find some good in a horrible situation.
Brother Bobby switched gears and went directly to another subject: Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical sprayed from the air to destroy jungle foliage. Since most of the battles were fought throughout jungles, Agent Orange was a huge help in clearing out the area. Because this chemical was sprayed from the air, everyone was exposed. Soon after the war, many people died from the effects of this chemical through cancer. “We were young and inexperienced. We had no idea that it would cause cancer," Brother Bobby
My curiosity got the best of me as I made the decision to further extend my knowledge of his past. I knew he had been to Vietnam and also battled cancer, but I had no idea that the two were linked to each other. We met at our church in Tullahoma, Tennessee; I was okay with this setting because it was only place that I knew Brother Bobby from. When …show more content…
It all started in 1971; his brother had just returned home from war, so Brother Bobby was ordered to be sent over. In spite of the fact that this was troublesome for him, as well as his family, he knew he had to go. After the long trip overseas, he finally arrived in South Vietnam. “Even though the war was going on, it was a beautiful country. It was a tropical area filled with beaches, jungles, and plantations," he said. As he told me this, I seen a sign of joy come across his face. Being the positive person that he is, he was able to still find some good in a horrible situation.
Brother Bobby switched gears and went directly to another subject: Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical sprayed from the air to destroy jungle foliage. Since most of the battles were fought throughout jungles, Agent Orange was a huge help in clearing out the area. Because this chemical was sprayed from the air, everyone was exposed. Soon after the war, many people died from the effects of this chemical through cancer. “We were young and inexperienced. We had no idea that it would cause cancer," Brother Bobby