THE CURE by Dave Zorger
	I guess I’d been in country seven or eight months, six of which was spent in the bush with the 196th LIB as a RTO. Nothing like adding an extra 25 lbs. to an already burden back pack, not to mention the wonderful target I made when equipped with the twenty-five foot wipe antenna for optimum performance, wondering around the firkin jungle with no particular place to go. You tell me why anybody in their right mind would volunteer for such a job. ( Key words "right mind") Needless to say when I transferred to the 71st AHC I was fairly hardened to life in a war zone, and now the "FNG" in second platoon. All my efforts were focused on becoming an active part of the team, so much so I didn’t notice the infestation that had begun to take hold on my lower extremities. Nasty little creatures, crabs, how the hell did I get them. Now what to do ? I just started flying, if I go to the infirmary they may ground me. Damn I like to fly, I don’t want to spend the rest of my tour cleaning shitters. "Honey Dipper’s Our Us" NO, FUCK NO, I’ll have to solve this problem on my own. I have foot power and if that doesn’t work I’ll use some insect repellent, nothing could survive that. After a week of treatment, I accomplished two things, No.1: I ran out of foot powder and insect repellent. No.2: The crabs were not only multiplying, they were actually getting bigger. TINS I caught one and couldn’t believe that they got so big, but when he stared me in the eyes, I felt I’d lost the battle and would seek help the following day. It was just before dark, I started thinking, there must be something I can do, one more attempt before I see the Doc. I don’t remember were I found it, but there it was, the Army’s version of Black Flag ant & roach killer. The area to be sprayed, at this point was very irritated. (raw) It was like holding a blow torch on my balls, except when I stopped spraying the burning didn’t stop. Balls in hand, I made a be-line to the showers. Running bare foot on the walk-way made of pallets was difficult and I fell off. Adding sand to my problem made it almost unbearable, especially when trying to wash the inflamed area with lava soap. After what seemed to be an eternity the pain stopped, the crabs were gone and to my good fortune, no witnesses. To this day I still twitch at the sight of a raid can. Dave Zorger "Fellow Helli-Vet" 71st AHC "Rattlers"