Page 182 - Why We Want You To Be Rich - Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki.pdf

176 I CHAPTER FIFTEEN

staging a major offensive across the DMZ. We were supposed to stop them
the moment they headed south. We knew the war was over. We had lost.
My crew had gone into the village to get some food and to shop for
souvenirs. I stayed with the helicopter, parked on the edge of a grass field.
Suddenly, a group ofyoung Vietnamese boys showed up and began climbing
in and out of the helicopter. I rose to my feet and in English attempted to
tell them to stay away. Obviously, they did not understand my English and
kept going through the aircraft, as 9- to 12-year-old boys would.
Fearing that the boys might be Viet Cong, which many in the area were,
I physically started pulling the boys away from the aircraft. I was now
concerned that one of them might be placing a grenade or some kind of
explosive in the aircraft. My fear got to me and I began being more physical
with my efforts to keep the boys away. One young lad would not listen. As
soon as I threw him off, he was back inside the aircraft, playing with the
machine guns and other weapons.
Finally,in a fit ofrage, I grabbed the boy by the hair and pulled him out
ofthe cabin. Responding to my anger, he kicked me and bit my arm. With
that, I lost control and instantly my Marine Corps training took over. I
pulled out my pistol, pulled the hammer back, put the barrel in his ear and
started screaming at him. Suddenly, our eyesmet and he started to cry. He
was terrified. He could see I was angry and crazed. I wanted to shoot him.
In my mind, I was justified; I knew he was the enemy.
As I stood there with my pistol to his head, I looked into his eyes and
saw his soul. There is a saying by professional hit men that goes, "Ifyou are
going to kill someone, don't look in their eyes." Looking in this young boy's
eyes, filled with tears, I suddenly began to cry. I paused. I didn't pull the
trigger. As I paused, I suddenly heard my mom pleading with me. Even
though she had passed on a few years earlier, I knew her voice, and it was
crystal clear: "Stop:' she said. "I have been pleading with you all my life to
be kinder. Pleasestop. I did not giveyou life to take another mother's child."
With that, I put the hammer ofthe gun back, looked into the boy's eyes
and let him know I was not going to kill him. Instead, I picked up a soccer
ball the boys had carried, put the pistol down and signaled to his friends

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