I only noticed him out of the corner of my eye. I knew he was a Marine from the cut of his uniform, with it's tightly pressed military creases. Then I heard him, speaking low with a kind of hiss. He was not speaking to me. He was speaking to my Sergeant, who was the Non Commissioned Officer, in charge of the Military Information Booth, at San Francisco International Airport, where I served as a Navy WAVE, during the Vietnam War.

 I heard his tortured attempt to speak. "Hep nee, peesss!" (Help me, please!) He struggled with every word. I was grabbing my purse to take a much needed break, but I was caught by his struggle to make himself understood. I could hear the irritation in the sergeant's voice, as she demanded that he "speak up!"

I paused, as he began again, "I-nee-to-chan...