ok this dude found me on myspace and i added him then discovered he was a vietnam vet and so i do my raymi crappy interview and made a few interesting discoveries along the way, here is the interview more or less:
raymi says:
hi i’m raymi what’s your name?
BTExpress says:
Tony
raymi says:
where do you live tony
BTExpress says:
Sayville, Long Island, NY
raymi says:
im in toronto canada
raymi says:
ok what do you do
BTExpress says:
right now I’m retired. My last job was as a Quality Manager in an electronics company
raymi says:
did you enjoy that? any interesting things happen to you whilst working there?
BTExpress says:
yes, it was a great job until the last 6 months. then one of the owners started changing how the company was run so it wasn’t fun anymore
raymi says:
that’s gay
BTExpress says:
yeah, it sucked too
raymi says:
ok so how old were you when you were drafted to vietnam
BTExpress says:
19 1/2 almost to the day. That’s when they drafted kids then
raymi says:
did you want to go?
BTExpress says:
nobody wanted to go, but I thought we were doing a noble thing, so i went
raymi says:
what did you think was noble about it
raymi says:
didnt you guys get totally slaughtered in that war?
BTExpress says:
you know, saving the world from the spread of Communisim
raymi says:
right
BTExpress says:
the war was not what I expected
raymi says:
was it like how it seemed to be in forrest gump?
BTExpress says:
for me, not really
raymi says:
so music by the doors wasn’t constantly playing in the background to the beat of your combat and marching?
BTExpress says:
LOL no
BTExpress says:
we all had radios and did listen to music though
raymi says:
did you see any guys get blown up
BTExpress says:
what ever the Armed Forces Network played
raymi says:
oh propaganda mood lifting music?
BTExpress says:
oh yeah
BTExpress says:
I saw 1 american get wounded he lived to go to the hospital, but died there that day
raymi says:
that sucks
BTExpress says:
Yeah, he was our platoon leader, a sargent
raymi says:
do you have post traumatic stress?
BTExpress says:
no stress
raymi says:
did you see any hookers when you were there?
BTExpress says:
hookers, yes
raymi says:
really!?
BTExpress says:
you could get laid for 50 cents
raymi says:
and did you?
BTExpress says:
no, I was afraid of getting the infamous clap they scared us about
raymi says:
oh damn
raymi says:
i was gonna say what if you had some children over there
raymi says:
don’t you think 50 cents is kind of insulting
BTExpress says:
to them it was a lot of money
raymi says:
you can’t even buy a chocolate bar with that
BTExpress says:
everything was cheap if we paid in military money
raymi says:
do any of your war buddies have kids in vietnam?
BTExpress says:
I don’t know anyone from there
raymi says:
i meant guys in yer platoon whatever did they knock up any prostitutes
BTExpress says:
no, most guys never screwed hookers
BTExpress says:
pot was also 50 cents a oz
raymi says:
did you smoke pot then?
BTExpress says:
I did once, but that was it. it was also my first time
raymi says:
did it make you crazy
BTExpress says:
I smoked a lot after that when I got home
raymi says:
oh
BTExpress says:
naw, but the pot was very good
raymi says:
i cant smoke weed anymore – i lived in brooklyn during sept 11 and i have post trauma of sorts and smoking weed makes me paranoid
raymi says:
pot these days is ten times stronger
raymi says:
what about acid
raymi says:
tell me really seedy shit
BTExpress says:
after i got out of the army I did about anything I could get
BTExpress says:
a lot of pot and hash mostly
BTExpress says:
the pot was very seedy
BTExpress says:
and cheap
BTExpress says:
I used to buy it buy the lb so it would last
raymi says:
did you sell it too
BTExpress says:
no
raymi says:
are you married
BTExpress says:
my wife died from brain cancer in Oct 2005
raymi says:
oh wow
raymi says:
sorry man
BTExpress says:
thanks
raymi says:
how are you coping
BTExpress says:
good
BTExpress says:
I have a girlfriend now
raymi says:
thats nice
raymi says:
how did you meet her
BTExpress says:
the gf?
raymi says:
yes
BTExpress says:
online
raymi says:
myspace?
BTExpress says:
she found me on myspace
raymi says:
ha nice
raymi says:
is she younger
BTExpress says:
yes, she’s 51, I’m 57
raymi says:
ah
raymi says:
are you loaded
BTExpress says:
rich?
raymi says:
no are you drunk
BTExpress says:
now?
BTExpress says:
too early
BTExpress says:
lol
raymi says:
im kidding
raymi says:
are you wealthy
BTExpress says:
no
raymi says:
well you have a boat don’t you?
BTExpress says:
yeah, we took out a equity loan to buy it with $70k for it
raymi says:
do you have children
BTExpress says:
1 son, 24
raymi says:
does he like your girlfriend
BTExpress says:
no, he thinks it was too soon to start dating
raymi says:
does he give you shit like DAD IT’S TOO SOON
BTExpress says:
well, we talked about it
raymi says:
well he’s a shitty 24 year old dink what does he know
raymi says:
guys between the age of 20 and 28 are not allowed to have opinions
raymi says:
jus saying
BTExpress says:
lol
raymi says:
did you have one of those big blow outs where you start crying and say SON DO YOU WANT YOUR FATHER TO BE ALONE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE!?!?!
raymi says:
tell me if i am being disrespectful
BTExpress says:
your fine
BTExpress says:
no blow out
raymi says:
ok
BTExpress says:
but we talked about it
BTExpress says:
he understands why i don’t want to be alone, but doesn’t like it
raymi says:
well again he can shut up it’s your life
raymi says:
is your son a babe
BTExpress says:
yes, you’d like him
raymi says:
probably not i feel annoyed by him already
raymi says:
i like older guys, my boyfriend is 31
BTExpress says:
I mean the way he looks
raymi says:
well he can do my laundry then
BTExpress says:
he doesn’t do much of that
raymi says:
does he live at home with you
BTExpress says:
yes, works full time
raymi says:
what does he do
BTExpress says:
asst manager in a super market produce dept
raymi says:
well there you go
raymi says:
so when you got back from vietnam did you have any panic attacks like search your house for bombs?
BTExpress says:
no, but for years I could never sit with my back to a room
raymi says:
really why
BTExpress says:
we always had to look in front of us for trouble someone always watched your back then no one could sneak up behind you
raymi says:
how long did that last for
BTExpress says:
not sure, maybe 25 years I’d still rather face the room but it doesn’t bother me anymore
raymi says:
how was the food
BTExpress says:
not too bad when they cooked it fresh. we ate C rations for lunch which weren’t very good
raymi says:
c rations?
BTExpress says:
same stuff all the time though
raymi says:
that sucks
BTExpress says:
yeah, c rations. today they are called MREs everything was pre packaged or in cans
raymi says:
have you been back to vietnam ever
BTExpress says:
never been back. may go some day, I know a guy through my blog that travels there a lot and said he would meet me there and show me arounbd if i ever want to go
raymi says:
be careful of people on the internet tony
BTExpress says:
oh I know
BTExpress says:
but so far the people I’ve met are great
raymi says:
thats good anything else you wanna tell me
BTExpress says:
I guess the most interesting was my out of body experience when i was wounded
raymi says:
oh!
BTExpress says:
blown up sort of
raymi says:
did it hurt
BTExpress says:
kind of, more uncomfortable
raymi says:
im reading the telegram on your blog
raymi says:
that’s crazy
BTExpress says:
yeah, I got fucked up pretty bad
raymi says:
where were you when it happened
BTExpress says:
going out for a night ambush
BTExpress says:
i have one blog for my Veitnam stories so they can all be read easily
BTExpress says:
and My blog for the Half-nekkid Thursday posts
BTExpress says:
the one i gave you is just Vietnam
raymi says:
haa you do half naked thursdays!
raymi says:
nice
BTExpress says:
Oh yeah, I’m very brave with what I show.
BTExpress says:
PG-13 I’d say
BTExpress says:
LOL
raymi says:
ha
BTExpress says:
my dying in Vietnam helped me deal with my wife’s death well
raymi says:
i bet
raymi says:
and her suffering is over now
BTExpress says:
I look at dying different than most
BTExpress says:
she had the brain cancer for 2 1/2 years before she finally died
BTExpress says:
took its toll and she was beat and decided not to have more surgery and let it runs it’s course
BTExpress says:
It’s all in my regular blog
raymi says:
jeez
BTExpress says:
I’ve talked about evrything sinec April 2005 when i started it
raymi says:
oh your out of body experience was you dying
BTExpress says:
yeah
raymi says:
so you floated on top of yourself?
BTExpress says:
I know others that had the same experience too
BTExpress says:
I floated 10 feet up in the air over my dead body
BTExpress says:
went into the light
BTExpress says:
and then came back into my body
raymi says:
thats cuckoo
raymi says:
were you flipping out did it feel like dreaming
BTExpress says:
no, very calm actually no, I knew I was dead strange that I was calm when i came back
raymi says:
well i would have been overwhelmingly depressed to see my body and not be in it
raymi says:
so cos of this you believe in heaven and shit
BTExpress says:
I’m not sure what I belive exactly but I do know there is an after life and a supreme being other than that, not too sure I am a Christian so belive in Christ though no traditional religion makes too much sense to me though
raymi says:
so basically i am fucked then cos i dont believe like ill start floating and then god will be like screw off you whore
BTExpress says:
LOL no, I don’t belive that
raymi says:
ok cool so i dont have to pray
BTExpress says:
won’t hurt do you believe in God?
raymi says:
no
BTExpress says:
well then, I’m not sure what happens then
BTExpress says:
all I know is what I went through and what others told that went through similar things
raymi says:
maybe you just hallucinated from blood loss
BTExpress says:
naw, doctors told me too many people report the same stories
raymi says:
i see
really cool