I don’t know any men who served in VietNam. Because I had an intimate working-class friend, I did make the acquaintance of one or two of them briefly. But of the doctors and lawyers I know, my circle: no.

My title is a reference to a tag line from the immediate post VietNam era: “He saved my life in ‘Nam!” I don’t know it it’s from some movie; I only encountered it on Saturday Night Live. It was what a guy might say to explain loyalty to some other guy with whom he seemed to have nothing in common. It was like that wonderful poem ST quoted a few weeks ago, about having “drunk from the same canteen”. Except, in our relief that the war was finally over, it became a campy meme. We had literally dodged a bullet. We were kinda giddy.

I’d like to try to “save”, just…