The Strangest Places

I was hired as a young Foreign Correspondent, Journalist and Reporter for CBS in the early 1970s. I wanted to become as famous as my American idol Ed Bradley, the consummate broadcast journalist who has earned 19 Emmy's and many other awards for his coverage of wars, politics and personalities.

My first assignment was to cover The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea between 1963 and 1974. The fight was between Portugal and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, an armed independence movement backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union, the war is commonly referred to as "Portugal's Vietnam" due to the large numbers of men and amounts of material expended in a long, mostly guerrilla war and the internal political turmoil it created in Portugal. The war ended when Portugal, after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, granted independence to Guinea-Bissau, followed by Cape Verde a year later.

On the last day of the supposed cease fire I was shot in the back and taken to a medical open air waiting room. An emergency infirmary at Canjambari, Guinea-Bissau. When events such as the one I was experiencing you immediately learn how to appreciate American hospital waiting rooms. I was laid out in what looked like a jungle setting. There were no nurses or insurance forms to fill out. I saw at least 45 wounded soldiers in far worst shape than myself. I laid on that makeshift gurney for at least 8 hours before this 20 year old looking American kid doctor gave me a shot of morphine and that’s all I can tell you.

I woke up in Bubaque Hospital. The doctor found inflammation to a nerve, in my lower back. He called it “radiculopathy.” All I knew at that time was that this radiculopathy, caused sharp pain that continued to shoot from my lower back down into one or both legs. I was flown back to the states after 3 months of treatment at Bubaque Hospital. The bullet didn’t land on my spine and I was able to walk with a slight limp.

It wasn’t long before I was back on the saddle again. This time I was sent to the “real Vietnam”. The end of the Vietnam War in 1975 resulted in the unification of Vietnam under a single, Communism. Communism is a philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of a communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money and the state.

My assignment was to get any pertinent information and photos of any soldiers MIA (missing in Action). The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerned the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia.

The first thing I did was to go to Da Nang Hospital. When I got to the hospital I couldn’t stop taking pictures of what I saw firsthand. Looking inside of a hospital room in Da Nang Hospital means you’ll more than likely share the tiny room with 50 other patients in varying conditions from brain trauma, cancer, to broken limbs. There is one shared bathroom consisting of a squat toilet, small sink, bucket and spicket. The only 2 things supplied for your stay is one sheet and a pair of prison-like pajamas. There were at least 6,000 wounded soldiers from battle casualties who doctors stated that they have performed a total of more than 18,000 operations. Conditions were so bad there that I had to change my assignment.

My book was titled: Nothing Good Ever Happens After a Senseless War. Over 1,200 illustrated pictures to view. I quit CBS after my book made the Times Best Seller’s List. I was invited on numerous talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Dick Cavette Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The Michael Douglas Show and The Phil Donahue Show to name a few. To tell you the truth it got boring quickly.

When my back and right leg started acting up I decided to visit Pamukkale, Turkey. It was said that water cascading from natural springs and down the white travertine terraces and forms stunning thermal pools would be a perfect remedy for my back and leg pain. After a dip, the only things that happened was that I got a really strange sensitivity feeling in my back, feeling spacey and fuzzy, immediately having to make a bowel movement and fatigue.

When a rich man is in pain he’ll try and pay for any kind of remedy in the world. I’ve tried many methods to relieve the pain.

Once I traveled all the way to the floating island in Loktak Lake, Manipur. Phumdis are a series of floating islands, exclusive to the Loktak Lake in Manipur state, in northeastern India. They cover a substantial part of the lake area and are heterogeneous masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter, in different stages of decay. It was said that standing in anyone of the lakes would heel any pain in the body. The only pain relief I was to received was out of my wallet. I was fined $50,000 rupees or $667 U S dollars.

My last venture was to The Taupo Volcanic Zone that has one of the highest geothermal activity ratings in the world. It lies in the beating heart of New Zealand’s North Island and stretches from Mount Ruapehu into to the Pacific Ocean past White Island. Wai O Tapu’s Thermal Wonderland a series of brightly colored geothermal pools, stinky sulfur mud baths and explosive geysers, directly in the middle of this volcanic zone. The pain in my left leg started acting up.

I’ve tried the herbal way. Taking something called Echinacea root has been used medicinally for centuries for its powerful immune system-boosting properties. This Echinacea Immune Support Tea from Yogi is made with peppermint, lemongrass, and licorice for a savory and delicious blend that supports respiratory function while boosting your body's immune defense system. I wasn’t worried about healing my immune system, but my back and both legs now.

After all the Strange Places I traveled to and the unrealistic medicines I tried. The only cure that always works I discovered right here in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A $19.95 bottle of Jack Daniels Whisky.