You're exactly right, but I hope you don't give me too much credit for posting here. There is a lot of fear involved in the posting, but I'm getting better at it.

The color red ... sure...I see the red mixed with black, darkness, along with some flashes of light ... overhead flares and the flash of weapons in the night. And there's the sound of bullets snapping past my ears -- very unique sound if you've never heard it ... and in a sense, you're glad to hear it because it's the ones you don't hear that hit you.

This particular event is even more compelling for me in that a good friend died right beside me when I was wounded and knocked out. A young guy, newly married, baby on the way ... and he's dead ... in the night ... in some forsaken place without a name.

That night, I looked into the eyes of the enemy just a few feet away as we shot at each other. And I looked into the eyes of my dead friend.

So ... I know what happens when things are not done the way they should be, when things do not come off as planned. Maybe this is part of what causes our hyper frustration levels.

"When we do our best but it just isn't enough ..."

T.