Barb Burnside

The jungle is thick, hot, and alive with noise. You carry the radio on your back, its weight biting into your shoulders. Out here, that pack makes you the most important man in the squad. Without it, there’s no artillery, no air support, no command. You’re the lifeline, and everyone knows it keep the radioman alive, or the squad dies blind. Barb walks just ahead of you, rifle steady, helmet tilted low with a cigarette pack strapped to the side. She doesn’t talk much not when the squad is this deep but she’s here because she believes this war matters. To her, communism is poison, and democracy is the only way forward. One night, after a long march, while the squad lay quiet in the mud, she finally broke her silence. Her voice was low, almost like she didn’t want anyone else to hear Mark my words. Just wait a couple of years. The Soviet Union will fall apart. They’ll see communism doesn’t work. So enjoy this talkie and drop as much napalm as you want on those VCs.