The Ticket

The Ticket


How am I supposed start this … I guess at the beginning….

In 1972, I was in a jungle in Vietnam I was the rear guard of our team. I was not paying attention to where I was placing my big feet and I tripped on a vine and went sprawling. That saved my life… gunfire flashed over my head. It criss crossed above the trail taking out my whole team. I slithered under some foliage and lay as still as I could. After a few minutes twenty black pajama clad Asians gathered in the middle of the trail. They seemed to be congratulating each other for a job well done.

I slowly arose to my knees and uncliped three grenades from my belt. I pulled the pin on the first and lobbed into there midst and did the same with the second… There was no need for the third
The first two had done the trick they had landed in a position to take them all out. I stood up and walked toward the bodies. I heard three shots, I felt a burning in my chest. I looked down, just above my right jacket pocket were three holes leaking blood.

I looked at the pile of bodies and saw the shooter collapse and thought damn if I had waited 5 minutes he would have been dead. I felt myself weakening. I backed off the trail and leaned against a tree. My last thought ‘Damn I hate to just sit here and bleed to death.’

I could hear a roar and occasionally feel a bump but my eyes didn’t want to open. I cast my thoughts back trying to make sense of things… why was I still alive… where am I…. My eyes popped open and all I saw at first was a bright light. Then a body blocked the light and I felt a sting in my arm. I could barely make a bunch of tubes in my arm and a bottle hanging from a pole. I suddenly had the realization I was on a plane…. The Question was where was I going. I was fading out again… the shot….

I opened my eyes again… the walls were white … I was in a bed, a Hospital. A nurse noticed I had my eyes open and she ran to fetch a doctor. I had been out for almost three months. I went out in Vietnam and awoke in Trippler Hospital in Hawaii. One look in a mirror told me how bad it had been. When I had went on patrol I was 225 pounds of muscle. They weighed me …I was down to 135 pounds and was so weak I could hardly hold a coffee cup. It really seemed odd to me for I was still 6′ 2 ” tall.

The chest wound had been bad , very bad they had not expected me to live. Six months later I was promoted to Sgt, given a medal and discharged all at the same ceremony. I was no longer Sgt Samuel Night Walker a half Comanche, Army Scout in his prime. I was now a wheezing weak shell of a man with the tag of a disabled vet. They had tried physical therapy but the mind wasn’t prepared. No progress was made. I left the hospital as a 130 pound sorry excuse as a human, No ambition, no drive and no desire, Disability retirement from the Army and I just turned twenty years old. It was 1973.

I never went back home, The ticket they gave was good to Amarillo. I had to change planes in Los Angles … I went no further. My parents had lived in the Palo Dura country near Amarillo Texas, they both died two years ago there was nothing for me there. I gave my boarding pass to a Sailor flying standby he had been at the airport for two days and he only had 2 weeks leave.

I made my way to Long Beach I found a mail store and rented a mail box. I went to the VA and registered my address so my check could be sent there I checked in VA Hospital and was assigned a DR. That was all I needed. I went down by the Pike and made me a camp near the beach and stretched out to get some rest. .I planned to go to Terminal Island the next day and check out the Navy base.

The Navy base, the people were very courteous. They directed me to the Civilian Personnel office. A very nice black lady called me to her desk and took my information and asked me what job was I applying . I told her I didn’t know and explained my situation. She shuffled through some papers pulled one out and looked at me and smiled, “Mr Walker I think I have the perfect position for you. Down near Seal Beach is the ships Graveyard. There is an opening for an attendant it even has quarters available if you need them. She helped fill out the paperwork.

A week later I checked back with her and I had been approved for the job. She arranged transportation that afternoon. I got out of the pickup at the Gate to the Mothball flee. I handed my paperwork to the attendant at the gate. He introduced him self as Jason Smith, Smitty. He showed me the Quarters that were available. It was like a small barracks except it had cubicles for privacy. There were six cubicles and only three were in use. Most only used them temporarily, I picked one close to the head (Bathroom) and shower. Smitty gave me the key for it, now I was all set I had a home.

There were three gates, North, South and East ( main ) Gates all gates manned from 0800 – 1800, East gate manned 24 hours 7 days a week This would be my post for now.. During the day there were 4 attendant rovers who covered the area and were assigned a certain number of piers and ships. At night 2 rovers and main gate. We worked 8 hour shifts being the new guy I started on the 3rd shift.

I didn’t need a car, we had 2 trucks assigned to us as well as the 3 wheeled covered scooters for the rovers. There was always a vehicle available, I had to report to the Doctor once a month and he put me back on therapy twice a month, One of the guys who used the quarters had a set of weights set up in our community area, he allowed me to use them if I wanted.

The community area had 2 refrigerators, a stove, a table picnic type, a TV, a sofa and a couple of overstuffed easy chairs.