Marvin and the M-16

Saw a show last night on the History Channel.  The M-16 rifle was the subject.  Innovative weapon put in the hands of seasoned warriors in the swamps and deltas of Viet Nam in 1967.  There were some problems in the beginning with the weapon but once it was understood you had to keep the gun very clean it became an effective killing machine.  “The M-16 was innovative in the heat of battle.”  “This rifle was my friend when I was surrounded by the enemy.”  “Did away with a lot of Viet Cong”, said the broken down, overweight man of 60 who was being interviewed.

 I was 18 in 1969.  One May night that year my senior classmates and I decided to have a party in the woods.  We lived in the Okanogan Valley and the woods were not hard to find.  In fact some of us lived in the woods.  I was a townie with button down shirts and drove a 1966 Mustang with a 289 engine.  I had girlfriends and I was a charming cruiser through life.  I had a few hard knocks and a few people didn’t like me and my parents were over the top nuts but I never let those details bother me.  I was a bit narcissistic and really enjoyed being me. My classmates were red necks and material for the army.

 Anyway, that night in May we seniors, all boys that night, gathered in a meadow area about 10 miles from town and started to drink cheap beer, play the music loud and tell stupid stories about what our futures were going to be like.  Of course I wasn’t dressed for the occasion.  I had on a yellow t-shirt, white levi jeans and white tennis shoes.  I looked good but, as usual, felt out of place with the other kids.  They were going to grow up to be loggers, night watchmen and ups drivers.  I had no idea of what I was going to be but I wished there were some girls around because I looked good sitting on the hood of my Mustang drinking a beer and listening to the Beatles.  I knew that soon my pants would be dirty being in close proximity to my classmates and I really wished I had worn something else.

 As the night wore on we drank more and more and we were all getting a little testy because we had nowhere to go or anything to do.  We were the kind of kids who watched the 60’s on TV and knew something was going on but we never had those experiences.

 Then, Marvin Brown, mad man of the universe pulls in to the meadow honking his horn raising dust and then stepping out of his jeep with an M-16.  His brother was just back from Viet Nam and Marvin was going to shoot the woods up with his brother’s stolen rifle.  This was a  weapon of war and only really meant for warriors.  Not crazy 18 year old kids.  Marvin stalked out into the woods where other kids had wandered off and began to scream and shoot and shoot that  M-16.  He was mad and crazy and was going to let it out with the rifle.  Marvin never aimed at anyone or anything.  It was all random shooting into the night with that god dam weapon.  There were no Viet Cong, no enemy.  Just woods.  The rest of us began to scatter except me.  I was worried about my white pants getting dirty and my Mustang getting shot.  I froze on the hood of the car and started yelling at Marvin.  “Put that gun down you crazy moron.  You’re going to kill someone.”

 Marvin kept shooting, obviously he hadn’t heard me, until he emptied all of the bullets and then he got into his jeep and drove off.  I was the only one left in the meadow and slowly the other kids came out of hiding and we all drifted back together again.  It was hard to understand the mayhem we had just witnessed.  It was a crazy world in 1969 America and we had just had some of that crazy around us.

Everyone got into their cars and drove home and never talked about it again.  Seems odd doesn’t it.  Today one of us boys would have told their parents or a teacher and Marvin would have been arrested.  It would be a big deal and mother’s would be hysterical and father’s would want to get to the bottom of this.  But for us it was anything but the parents or someone of authority.  Parents and teachers lived in their world and that’s where we wanted them to be.  We had no need for them in our world.  It was our problem if we got in trouble.  Please anything but the parents.  But this was a lot different for us.  The big picture was life was fragile and craziness could easily kill you.  I think we were stunned that nothing happened to anyone of us.  No holes through our heads.  No wounds with blood gushing out.  We weren’t dead and I think we were actually happy to leave that meadow alive and physically unharmed.  Who needed mental anguish we were still alive and still able to go to the next senior party.  Death had been abated and we were happy for that.  So happy we didn’t need to share that secret with anyone.  At least that’s the way I remember that night.  Who knows what the other kids thought happened or what they remember?

 We had more parties, I’ll have to share those later, and finally graduated.  Today Marvin Brown would have been taken in by the authorities and stood trial.  In August of 1969 Marvin Brown went to Viet Nam and I’m not sure he came home.  Maybe he did.