I met Dennis
and his friend Lewis while visiting St. Louis, Missouri. They are veterans of
the Viet Nam War. And they are homeless. Both seemed optimistic, and neither
were bitter. Except for the use of Agent Orange, the highly toxic defoliant
used by the US government. Neither Dennis nor Lewis were directly harmed by
Agent Orange, but they knew men who were.
Between them on the bench was a brown paper
bag, containing a beer that they were sharing. Although homeless, a place to
sleep at night was not their immediate concern. The next meal was not their
immediate concern. Their immediate concern was finding tickets for that
evening’s baseball game. We were a few blocks from Busch Stadium, home of the
St. Louis Cardinals.