[buymycards]

After talking to his family today, I learned that he didn't believe in wearing a mask. Even though, as a firefighter, he could have received a vaccine during the initial wave of vaccinations, but he refused to get one.

This mask/vaccine controversy reminds me of when I was in Viet Nam. We were issued flak vests, which were hot and very heavy. Many of the soldiers left them behind. When the mortar shells started exploding around us, those of us who were wearing our vests were thanking God that we wore our vests, while those who didn't wear their vest were probably begging God to keep them alive, while thinking - "why in the hell didn't I wear my flak jacket?" More than a few soldiers were wounded or died because they weren't wearing their flak vests.

The mask/vaccine issue is the same thing, except it is much easier to don a mask or receive a vaccine than it is wear a flak jacket while trudging through a hot, humid jungle. I wonder how many people who were in intensive care wards with a respirator tube shoved down their throat were wondering - "why in the hell didn't I just put on my mask?"