Thoughts From Dr. Joe:A Spot of Tea

I met them in the Officers' Club. Although, because of its state of disrepair, it could hardly be called a club; the week prior it had taken a hit from a wayward rocket meant for the airfield.

My shyness did not keep our distant but similar worlds apart. I was immediately attracted to their boisterous gregariousness and broad smiles. They were rogue warriors, SAS (Strategic Air Service) from Australia, and were considered to be the best of the best. The Viet Cong called them Ma Rung, (phantoms of the jungle). I thought it strange that they were not ten feet tall.

"Hey mate, buy you a beer?" Well, that's all it took to ferment the camaraderie of the brotherhood of war. I sang "Waltzing Matilda" into the wee hours of the morning and they sang "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes" till dawn. As we said our good-byes, the Aussies shouted, "Mate, if you get back to Phuoc Tuy, come say hello and have a spot of tea." I thought it strange that they would invite me to have tea especially after a night of beer and debauchery.

Weeks later I returned to Phuoc Tuy. I was pleased to see that the Aussies were still very much intact. After swapping stories, the captain asked, "Lieutenant, how about a spot of tea?" You gotta be kidding me, I thought.

Nonchalantly, they righted and stacked three or four artillery ammo boxes, threw on a poncho liner, grabbed some tarnished old cutlery, gathered various cups and saucers, some biscuits and stale cookies and poured some freshly brewed Darjeeling.

"You gotta be kidding me," I said, out loud this time.

"Lieutenant, it's our custom," one replied.

In this godforsaken war in the middle of the jungle, experiencing civility amid a sea of barbarism truly defined the fog of war. Afternoon tea became a peaceful repose, for there was nothing that could be lost, all cares seemed to vanish, and those burdens that weighed heavily disappeared between the first sip and the last.

Throughout the rest of my tenure in the Marines and my travels through Southeast Asia and Europe I would make it a point to luxuriate myself with afternoon tea whenever possible. I liked the way it made me feel.