[frisco-kid]

A few weeks ago my watch needed a new battery, so I stopped at a nearby Long's Drugs that had a watch repair counter. When I stepped up to the counter the watch repairman immediately noticed my "U.S. PARATROOPER" baseball cap and, in a thick Russian accent, asked me when I was a paratrooper. I told him, and he tells me that he was also a paratrooper..........in the Russian Army.

As we talked I told him that I was in VN as a 19yr. old paratrooper, and he tells me that he was also a 19yr. old paratrooper................in Afghanistan. He told me that he had been wounded twice, showing me an ugly scar the length of his forearm from an RPG. Kath shows up saying she's ready to go about the time a couple customers show up needing my new friends service. We shake hands while looking into each others eyes with a warm smile on our faces, feeling the bond between us.

Yesterday Kath needed to stop by Long's for a couple of things and I immediately headed for the watch repair counter. My friend was there. He greets me with a big grin and a hardy handshake. We start comparing experiences again and he tells me that his military training was about 6mos., about the same amount of time as mine. The difference is that ALL of his takes place at one huge training center, including parachute training. After Basic, he's trained as some sort of tank driver; something I never heard of in the Airborne. He explains that their Airborne unit has a unit of small [about 7,000 lbs.] armored vehicles attached to them that can be air dropped with the paratroopers. Once on the ground, he saddles up and drives one. It's armed with some kind of 20mm cannon, and the equivelent of a twin .50. I forgot to ask if it was a track or had tires, but he said it was amphibious. I tell him the closest our Airborne had was a 105 recoiless mounted on a jeep, and whatever gun jeeps and 3/4 ton trucks we adapted with .50's and .30 cals. I told I didn't see any of this until I returned with the 82nd; my whole time with the 101st being light infantry.

We compared Afghanistan and VN, both of them being guerilla wars. Of course the weather and terran was widely different. And like many of us later in the war, they too felt that it was unwinnable. I pointed out that we were in our respective wars for different reasons; me to help save RSVN from the spread of Communism, and he to conquer a country and force Communism on them. He grinned and nodded his head, saying "Good point."

Once again, it's time for me to leave and for him to return to work. We again shake hands and give each other a look of mutual respect, knowing that we are bonded by both of us having been tested under fire. But even more so by both being members of the Brotherhood of Paratroopers, and knowing it doesn't matter what country's uniform you wore. I'm looking forward to our next visit.