Be Brave Like the GIs

By an Anonymous Air Force Brat

There I was, standing in line at base hospital, waiting to get my flu shot. We were about to PCS from Tinker AFB, OK, back to Clark AFB, P.I., for another five-year tour, and our shot records needed to be updated.

Being 12 and having done this a time or two, I wasn’t looking forward to it. Mom drug me to base hospital as they were giving out flu shots and we needed one on our records. I was doing the usual whiny kid routine, “Mom, I don’t want to get a shot. It hurts. Do I have to?” while squirming around.

Mom was rather firm. It must have been the German in her coming out. The requirement was to update the shot records and, by God, we were going to update our shot records. “David, quit whining. Look at all these GIs! They’re not afraid. Do you see them whining? Be brave like they are.”

Now, the setup in the lobby of base hospital for this occasion was a bit elaborate. There was an entry point where you walked up, talked to the corpsman and checked in. Then you went behind a cloth divider where the shot was administered. After that, there were some chairs where you sat for five or so minutes and then went on about your day. They were using needles and not the air guns, thankfully.

As the line moved on and we got closer, my whining intensified. Mom repeated her refrain about being brave like the GIs in front of us.

As the airman in front of us went behind the curtain and we checked in, I gave it one last try, “Mom, do I have to?” Exasperated, Mom looked at me and said, “David, I told you to be brave like the GIs. You have to get this shot. Now quit whining. Be brave like they are.”

Right about that time, we heard a groan and the sound of a metal tray being knocked over behind the now falling cloth divider as the GI who was ahead of us passed out and went down. He took the tray with the vaccines, the divider and some of the chairs with him as he dropped to the floor, out cold.

I looked at him, looked back up at Mom, cried out, “MOM!” and pointed at him. Without missing a beat, Mom looked at the GI there on the floor, looked back at me, looked at him again as the corpsman began resuscitating him, turned to me and said, “He was a coward. Now get up there, be brave and take your shot.” And so I did.

To this day, every time I get a flu vaccine, I still think of this episode and turn my head away.

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As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.