In another incident, we were ambushed while walking along in elephant grass. We hit the ground and I felt this thing going across the top of my head and something hit my neck. Later, someone said this guy was running around helping others with blood coming out of his neck. I can’t remember that; I must have kept going. I was choppered out to medical evacuation. It’s such a blur. From that time on, I disliked having tight things around my neck.

When I was back in Brisbane for R&R I was walking down the street when a car backfired. I hit the ground in front of everyone. You’re living differently. Your body is tuned to this. You’re trying to survive. People didn’t understand.