After Huffman returned from Vietnam, Huffman’s greatest fear was public speaking.  He was worried about his broken English from living in the projects being exposed; he was worried about his cognitive problems being exposed when he spoke.  His broken English dialog was not fluid.  He would hesitate, mix up or forget words.  He would forget names or forget what he was saying.  He had expressive aphasia.  His vocabulary was limited.  When Huffman decided to go to college and become an attorney, he had to overcome his greatest fear: speaking.  For instance, one time when he was speaking in behalf of a charitable organization he sat down in the middle of the speech and said thank you; he forgot what he was going to say next.  In order to overcome Huffman’s speech problem, he taped every lecture in college; he learned the vocabulary of his professors.  He did not back off from speaking although he was afraid of being exposed. When Huffman became an attorney, he still didn’t overcome the fear completely.  He got up in front of judges and did what he had to do anyways.  There’s times he was not given kind reviews by judges that were impatient with his hesitations; his inability to get words out quickly.  Huffman did what he had to do anyways until the fear was gone.  In college he would participate in speeches when needed. Over the years, he became involved in charitable organizations and political fundraising events where he would make public speeches and did well.  He learned to accept himself as his is.  He faced his speaking problem; he turned it around in his favor.  He learned how to limit misstatements and use his hesitation to his benefit by considering it an asset.  By litigating civil cases, it was more difficult getting his speech pattern into rules of evidence but he continued to work on it.  Now Huffman stays in his comfort zone.  Administrative law allows him to speak freely without exactly following the rules of evidence.   To this day, Huffman’s not sure if the words will come out correctly when he speaks.  He speaks publically anyways.  His knowledge of the subject matter and his ability to be creative has allowed him to overcome his biggest fear.

In the summer of 1993, Huffman went to his first Mike Company 3/7 reunion.  Pete was still alive although his hands were emotionally shaken by the reunion.  Crazy Morgan didn’t get himself killed.  Shaffer was alive.  Like Pete, it seemed like he wouldn’t make it after he was wounded.  Lt. Slade was killed November 1968.  Huffman found out Rick Middleton received a bullet to the chest and was paralyzed from the chest down.  Cudniff, Foster, and Wilkerson were killed by a listening post near Hill 10 December 1968.  Huffman met Gary Walker, his replacement.  Walker received a Silver Star February 23rd, 1969.  Cudniff told Walker all about Huffman; how if Huffman didn’t shave for a day or two, it looked as if he didn’t shave for a week.  Cudniff never knew why Huffman would stay in a puddle when there was dry land.  Huffman wasn’t asked about staying in the shadows away from the moon.  Morgan, his wife Louise; Pete, his wife Patti left after the first day.  The emotions were too much.  Huffman became friends with Wayne Vines, an Alabama southern boy.  Huffman believed he was black, only to find several years later that Vines was a white redhead.  Huffman’s wife Peggy at the time, and his daughter Frankie came to DC with him.  They learned about Mike Company 3/7.  Huffman danced in the street when a group of Mike Company guys yelled for him on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Peggy pushed his blind self into the curb.  When his foot hit the curb, the soda can she was holding squeezed in her hands and went in her face.  Frankie enjoyed the excitement.  Wayne Vines and Huffman pretended Huffman really could see.  By exchanging words and letters for numbers Huffman was able to tell how many fingers somebody had up.  Cudniff told Walker he thought Huffman was on the paddy dike when ten NVA walked up on him saying, “friend, friend”.  Cudniff started the firefight with an M79 beehive round.  There were ten causalities in the morning.  Huffman laid in the moon shadow until Cudniff left.  Walker loved Cudniff’s version of the events, “Huffman what the fuck you doing up on the paddy dike”?  Walker heard from Cudniff that Huffman died and was surprised to see him alive

The first reunion was just the beginning.  There were many more reunions and the rekindling of old relationships and the beginning of new ones for Huffman and others in Mike Company 3/7.

Like many other Vietnam Veterans, Huffman was disgusted with the treasonous behavior of Hanoi Jane.  When Veterans get together they reminisce about old tales.  One tale involving Rick Middleton and Hanoi Jane was quite disturbing to Huffman.  Rick Middleton, after being shot chest high where the bullet severed his spine, was left paralyzed for life.  Eventually he made his way back to the VA hospital in Arkansas.  Middleton was a good-looking blonde with a strong accent.  In 1969 he was dealing with the fact that he was paralyzed, but was proud to have served his country.  Jane Fonda, without invitation, showed up at his hospital bed at the VA hospital in Arkansas.  Hanoi Jane offered him a job to join Vietnam Veterans against the war.  She would give him a nice office and a good salary.  Middleton told Hanoi to open her own office.  He watched the people of Arkansas laugh her out of town.  Huffman found it disturbing that Hanoi Jane’s betrayal would include going to the hospital bed of a paralyzed Marine from Mike Company 3/7.  Huffman remembers Middleton having raw potatoes sent to him in Vietnam from his father’s farm.  Too bad he didn’t have one a few months old to throw at Hanoi when she popped him the question.

Dodging Bullets is a story about my life.  It’s a story about the Houdini-like escaping from failure with the assistance of government, family, friends, and the grace of God.  I learned from my experience in Vietnam, “you can’t worry about the bullet that doesn’t hit you; otherwise you’d be shot by the one that would have missed you”.   It all started as a baby born into a poor family in Wilmington, DE with parents with mental illness, alcoholism, and abuse.  One child died before I was born because of that abuse.  The rest of us were sent to orphanages and foster homes beginning in 1953.  Two additional children were added to the family after 1953 for a total of ten minus one.  I was sent to the Klingberg Children’s Home in New Britton, CT from five years old to thirteen with some of my other brothers and sisters from 1953 until 1961.  I went to chapel every morning, emotionally from afar singing Christian songs like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. 

My brothers, sisters, and I that were in the orphanage went back home in 1961 to live in the projects in Wilmington, DE.  There was additional abuse in my family; my parents split-up the final time within the first year of coming home.  I became a product of my environment.  As a “whitie” I had the attitude of some of my black friends; “it was stupid to be intelligent”.   I flunked 7th, 9th, and quit after the 10th grade.  After quitting school and before joining the Marines I moved in with some white friends and worked for Justice Brothers in Newport, DE; a store which sold appliances and installed TV antennas.  I was a volunteer fireman for a couple of years as well. 

After joining the Marines, I was with Mike Company 3/7 in Vietnam in ‘68.  I dodged bullets as anyone did that was in a combat unit.  I was only a PFC and just handled what was in front of me.  I did what I was told; I wasn’t a decision maker.  I can’t claim any fame in Vietnam except the booby prize: a Purple Heart when I was blinded by a booby trap September 29, ‘68.  The story about dodging bullets is not so much about what happened in Vietnam in ‘68; it’s about what happened during my life facing failures.  

After I was blinded in Vietnam and was in a car accident which paralyzed me for a short time February 26, ‘70; I came back and obtained two Bachelor’s Degrees, a Juris Doctor of Law Degree and had successful law practices.  I obtained a black belt in Judo and a brown belt in Aikido.  I somehow had the opportunity to assist others throughout my lifetime.   According to the American Psychiatric Association statistics, I could have chosen a gay life, engaged in criminal activities, been an abuser, or become a drug addict.   Problems were all around me, and I had my own.   Just by the will of hanging in there to do the right thing when I was facing failure, I was able to accomplish many good things for myself and others. 

Since Vietnam, I’ve kept a gun against my head with the trigger pulled to come through for myself and others for some reason I can’t explain. I made mistakes; at the same time I made Houdini-like escapes from my mistakes.  When I forgave others for their mistakes, God would forgive me for mine and allow me to dodge bullets.  Some people would call the ability to dodge bullets luck.  I say “thank you, everyone; because of you and because of the grace of God, I’ve been able to escape from disaster and help others: while I was dodging bullets”.  I cannot predict the future; like in Vietnam, I can only handle what’s in front of me.  




Dodging Bullets is short stories about my life that I’m writing for a year or two.  After completion of the hundreds of short stories, I’ll write a book about my thoughts behind Dodging Bullets.  I hope my story can help others with their lives.  When we die, nothing matters except our souls.