Originally published between 2015 and 2018, this post has been updated but preserves its original publish date as best as possible as content is migrated from the archives of The Flavored Word.
In honor of the often misunderstood, but still undeniable genius that passed yesterday, I watched Good Morning Vietnam last night. I tried to watch The Bird Cage, a movie that’s poignant humor will never cease to put me in a good mood, but couldn’t find it so, I opted for Vietnam. And to this day, there remains a particular scene that stops my mind from complaining about the, oh so mundane and tedious crap that surrounds me day in and day out …
The one where the famed radio personality, Adrian Cronauer, momentarily stopped by a large Army convoy, provides an impromptu radio short and asks the troops where they are from … it’s the looks on their faces, actors or not, the responses they give, scripted or not … and the reactions on Mr. Williams’ face that stirs me … because I cannot imagine. Cannot even pretend to imagine what it would have been like … to be so young, and so scared, and so unprepared for the horrors they were about to face … nor, thank God, can I imagine how alone and scared Mr. WIlliams must have felt many days of his life.
And so, I leave you with the closing words from Cronauer’s final broadcast … a fitting salute to the comedic genius Robin Williams … Ork is lucky to have him home again … Nanu Nanu.
“Gooooooooood-byyyyyyye Vietnaaaaam! That’s right, I’m history … I’m outta here. I got the lucky ticket home, baby. Rollin, rollin, rollin’ … keep them wagons rollin’, rawhide! Yeah, that’s right …”
Cover image from FanPop.com.
DISCLAIMER: I’m a writer and an editor. And I try my best to make sure every post is articulate and free from errors. However, being that I edit my own work—and it’s next to impossible to properly edit your own work—I admit, occasionally there may be an error or two I miss. But doing so doesn’t make me an idiot so don’t be mean. Just smile, pat yourself on the back for finding an error and be glad you’re not the only one who makes mistakes sometimes … xoxox
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