 Ray Burns,
Chicago, Illinois
Artist and photographer - He was drafted into the Army at 18 and spent a year in Vietnam as a fire team leader
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 "We were out on the last mission I ever went on. … This particular time, I had two guys that were on my flank that were new. I was a fire team leader and it was my responsibility to keep an eye on everyone on my team, but especially these two guys who were walking in a daze. … I’m a left-footer. I step with my left foot forward first. This particular time, I had to step with my right foot to catch this new guy before he went through something like concertina wire and when I touched down, there wasn’t a click, but the ground gave from underneath my foot. I don’t even know if I heard it, but I know I was propelled about 20 meters in the airs from the spot I was at. Everyone actually froze at that point because they figured we were in a mine field. I never lost consciousness. … (Our platoon leader) just looked at me and said, ‘Leave him alone; he’s a dead man.’ … We had this redheaded kid from Iowa who was our medic. He just grabbed hold of what he had and started running toward me. God bless him, and I loved him, but if he had hit something else, then I would have been the cause not only of my own but of someone else’s death. I put my hand down and felt and said, ‘Got ’em.’ Yeah, they were still there. I didn’t even know my foot was hanging off, but you know, maybe it’s the male thing."
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