b'HEALTHLearning to Live With Chronic Disease"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my GodPsalms 42:11By Byron Conner, MDS ometimesweassumeourlives willremainthesamedespitethe fact we are getting older, and we are exposed to so many potential threats toourexistence.Irememberatime whenI though things would continue as always. I thought life would contin-ue as it was. No unmanageable trou-bles, or major threats to my existence.Then one day I received a letter in the mail from the United States gov-ernment, and more specifically, theConner"Selective Service". I was 20 years of age and certainly old enough for "the draft".I was as you can imag-ine,dismayed at this letter. I knewNam. I reported to the Selective what was coming. The United StatesService building as orderednear was involved in a war in South Vietdowntown Denver. I took the tests we had to take and they found me in good health. The next thing I remem-ber is that after the testing came the We must ring the alarmdrafting! I was sworn in as a Private E1 In the US Army! I was going to and form a chorus ofwar! My family of 11 was dismayed. I could flee to Canada if I wanted, voices crying out thatbut the orders were in my hand. I reported as ordered and learned I was thousands of Blackgoing to be assigned to a place called Pleiku, South Vietnam. I was taken and Brown peopleby plane to my new duty station, Army Camp Enari. in San Antnio, murdered every year isTexas. After this, I was taken to South Vietnam. The first night I spent in Viet Nam, not acceptable, and itwereceivedmanyroundsofmortar fireeventhoughwewerea"base-is past time we treat itcamp". In fact the last night I was in South Vietnam we again received again like the public healtha rain of mortar fire. The only reason I spent just 9 months in South Vietnam pandemic it is. isbecausemyfamilyhadanunfor-tunateeventthathappenedonthe Continued on Page 15BODY OF CHRIST NEWS NOVEMBER 2021 11'