Freedom Train

January 2, 1963

Jan. 2, 1963

"Do you remember Bert the Turtle?" Annabeth asked Bobby as they sat in his truck in front of her house.

The two of them had spent the day at the library, reading magazine articles and newspapers, mostly about the Soviet Union and communism. There seemed to be a whole lot more information on atomic warfare then there was about any other immediate threats. There were, however, a few articles from more recent years, that were sprinkled with mention of Southeast Asia, more specifically- A place called Vietnam.

"I do," he answered. "They made us watch that video every year in school, it seemed."

"The first time we watched 'Duck and Cover' I remember going home and hiding in my room until the next morning, afraid as all get out that the Commie's were going to come and light us all on fire. Might've been only a kid of 7, but I knew that ducking and covering wasn't going to save not one of us if that bomb got close enough for us to see its blast. Cause' in reality, us normal people don't have shells like Bert. We'd be goners. And the video really made it seem as if the bomb was inevitable. But guess what?"

Bobby lifted his head and looked over at her, his eyes sad.

"It never came, Bobby. All those practice drills at school- All that money wasted on fallout shelters and 'safe places'- and we're all still here and everything has turned out alright. I guess what I'm trying to say is, your brother is going to be just fine. You'll see. Because everything always seems to work out in the end."

Annabeth didn't believe a word she was saying. Not really. She just knew that Bobby hadn't liked what he had read that day. She didn't either. But she also didn't like the idea that he would go home and stew over it when there was nothing that could be done about his brothers enlistment now. He belonged to Uncle Sam.

" 'We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to insure the survival and the success of liberty.' Know who said that?" Bobby asked.

"President Kennedy."

"If Kennedy thinks that aiding South Korea is going to stop the spread of communism, then that's what we're going to do."

"Everything we read about Vietnam said that we aren't out there fighting. We're out there teaching the locals how to fight for themselves. I'm sure they'll be pulling our boys out before long."

"I sure hope you're right, Annabeth." Bobby sighed. "I guess I'm just surprised that we haven't heard more about it."

"They probably know more in the big cities," Annabeth said. "They like to keep us nice and ignorant out here. Our parent's try to keep us obedient, don't tell us nothing worth knowing, in hopes that we will do exactly as they ask."

"I have a feeling you don't want the life your Mama has?"

Annabeth laughed lightly.

"Not even a little."

"Thank you for coming with me today," Bobby said after a few quiet seconds.

"I'm sorry it didn't make you feel any better," she said, gathering her bag off the seat beside her and preparing to head inside.

"Being with you always makes me feel better," he smiled.

Annabeth felt the heat rush to her cheeks before she whispered a quick goodbye and jumped from the truck.

**

Later that night, Annabeth lay on her bed with her radio quietly playing "Big Girls Don't Cry" by the Four Seasons. It seemed appropriate to her as it was the reminder she needed that day to remain level headed.

She wanted to appear optimistic for Bobby's sake, but the articles she read that day truly upset her. The world around her was starting to become clearer. Annabeth couldn't help but wonder how on Earth she fit in to making any of it better.

That day had answered questions that she never thought to ask, revelations that were never relative or important to life in small town Alabama.

Of course, she knew that the United States wasn't on the best of terms with the Soviet Union. Horror stories about Russians and communists were pushed into her head practically since infancy, right alongside horror stories of coloreds. She supposed she must've pushed them all into the same category- Bullshit.

But apparently, there was truth to the Soviet claims, as an indirect war with Russia is what involved the United States of America into a plethora of other conflicts that they probably had no business being involved with in the first place.

Prior to WWII, Vietnam had been a colony of the French. During WWII, the Japanese took control of the area. The war soon ended and Ho Chi Minh, a revolutionary and communist, wanted freedom for Vietnam. However, allies agreed that Vietnam belong solely to the French.

This caused Minh and his rebels to fight the French for their said 'freedom'. Minh asked for U.S assistance but the United States worried that communism would spread throughout South East Asia and slowly trickle its way back into the U.S. Then, Minh began to have success against the French, concerning the USA.

In 1950, the United States of America began sending aid to the French in Vietnam.

In 1954, the French lost a huge battle and pulled out of Vietnam. The country divided into a communist North Vietnam and an anticommunist South Vietnam. They had hoped to reunite under a single election in 1956. But the U.S feared communism so much that they helped Ngo Dinh Diem get elected in Southern Vietnam.

From what Annabeth had read, so far, the only qualification the man had was that he was anticommunist and had the backing of men in high power in America.

In March of 1959, Ho Chi Minh declared all-out war against South Vietnam to reunite under one rule. In December of 1961, U.S military advisors informed the public that they were going to take a more direct role in the war, to aid the underprepared Vietnam natives and help teach them to defend themselves against the communist North.

Annabeth remembered watching a press conference the previous January, where a reporter asked Kennedy if any of their men were engaged in the fighting, and he said a resounding 'NO'.

She let his words put her at ease and allowed her mind to drift to other things like her last school Valentines dance and the way she would wear her hair.

Now, she wished she would've paid more attention to what was going on around her.

She had focused herself on the troubles here in America, the civil disrupt from the unfair disadvantages the coloreds were handed at birth, because that was what she could see. That was what affected her daily life, because she had been exposed to the injustice firsthand. Admittedly, she had shut herself off from the rest of the faulted world.

It was hard to deny that she should've opened her world views a whole hell of a lot sooner.

It did concern her. It concerned all of them, especially when their men were over there fighting for their lives.

Men like Bobby's big brother, Hank.