During 65 years, I have walked the path of duty and discipline... And today, looking back at that long path of service, my soldier's heart stirs and murmurs from deep within: Thank you. Thank you, my homeland.
I was born with a heart murmur. When I was 21, the stress of the career and traveling - the lack of sleep and just not eating right - had taken its toll. Our schedules had been pretty crazy for about three years, and there was no rest at all. So in order to continue on and, you know, have a life, I had to fix it.
'21' was the place, and you went down, and they opened the door. They had a little slit they'd look through, and then you'd murmur the password or whatever it was you had, showed a little ticket, and if they remembered who you were, you went in.
I believe that a man is converted when first he hears the low, vast murmur of life, of human life, troubling his hitherto unconscious self.
It certainly helps that I'm quite a relaxed guy and I take things in my stride, and if you hear the odd murmur of criticism, you just stay focused on your job and doing what you're working hard to do. I've always been confident in my own ability, and that's just as important.
I came up poor. My mother only had a fourth-grade education. My dad didn't have any education at all. But they were very structured. They worked hard. You know, they didn't complain. They didn't murmur. And they believe in the Christ.
Signs of fatigue soon manifested themselves more and more strongly, and slowly the men dropped out one by one, from sheer exhaustion. No murmur of complaint, however, would be heard.
When he said we were trying to make a fool of him, I could only murmur that the Creator had beat us to it.
I dish the dirt out, and I can take it. But why should my mother and children have to take it? In 20 years, I have taken any number of stories, most of which are not true, without a murmur of complaint. But some stories you have to draw the line and say No.
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
