美国国家公共电台 NPR 'I Found The Treasure When I Found You': 2 Veterans Rekindle Bond Forged By War

 

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And it is time for StoryCorps on this Friday. Today, two Vietnam War veterans who lost touch after the war. Kay Lee was a combat¹ medic from San Francisco. John Nordeen was a soldier from Seattle. They were both in their early 20s when they served together in the Army. Fifty years after leaving the military, they sat down for a StoryCorps to remember how they first met.

KAY LEE: You were one of the first person I talked to. And, you know, I'm from a very sheltered life. So I thought you were a little crazy.

JOHN NORDEEN: And that was part of how we survived.

LEE: After one firefight, he came to me and showed me a helmet with a bullet hole in it. And I can't believe that you're alive. All I can say was, John, I think you have a very hard head.

NORDEEN: Yeah, I remember that day. But that was a day where a lot of other guys weren't as lucky as me. Our platoon went from, like, 29 guys to 10 guys in two days. So the guys that were left, we had even stronger bonds 'cause we had survived this together.

And, you know, when you lose friends, you develop a hard exterior². And you don't want to make friends with anyone else. So I don't have a big circle of friends. I think that's just one of many hang-ups I brought home with me.

LEE: When I got home, most of the time I tried to forget the whole experience and not think about it too much. And I didn't try to contact anyone because I'm not sure you guys wanted to be contact.

NORDEEN: Yeah. Like you, I just melted into the woodwork like a chameleon³. But I thought about you, Kay. And one time, I was down in San Francisco. And I ripped⁴ a page out of the San Francisco phonebook. It's got all the Lees with the first initial⁵ K. And I started going through, making phone calls. How many Lees do you think are out there?

LEE: A lot.

NORDEEN: Yeah. It took years to find you. But I found my long lost buddy⁶. And it was just like we'd never been apart.

LEE: John, we were so lucky. We survived Vietnam, and we're still here.

NORDEEN: Yeah. I've learned from you how to try to stay calm at times, even when the world's exploding around you. And that's why your friendship means the world to me.

LEE: It's hard to describe the friendship and the bond that you form during battle. It's different than most friendship. It's like family now. I feel very grateful for your effort to find me.

NORDEEN: Well, I feel like I'm a treasure hunter. And I found the treasure when I found you.

GREENE: John Nordeen and Kay Lee at StoryCorps in San Francisco, 50 years after serving together in Vietnam. Hear more stories of people reuniting on the new season of the StoryCorps podcast, which you can find at npr.org.

1 combat   

n.战斗，斗争，格斗；vt.与...斗争，与...战斗

参考例句：

• The police are now using computers to help combat crime.警方现在使用电脑打击犯罪活动。
• A reporter interviewed the combat hero.记者访问了这位战斗英雄。

2 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

3 chameleon   

n.变色龙，蜥蜴；善变之人

参考例句：

• The chameleon changes colour to match its surroundings.变色龙变换颜色以适应环境。
• The chameleon can take on the colour of its background.变色龙可呈现出与其背景相同的颜色。

4 ripped   

adj. <美俚>喝醉的，受毒品麻醉的 动词rip的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He had ripped up the carpet, leaving only the bare boards. 他用力扯去了地毯，只剩下裸露的地板。
• I ripped my jeans on the fence. 我的牛仔裤在栅栏上划破了。

5 initial   

adj.最初的，开始的，词首的；n.首字母，姓名的开头字母；vt.标注姓名的首字母于

参考例句：

• After she'd overcome her initial shyness,she became very friendly.她克服了起初的羞怯之后，变得十分友善。
• The experiments have given initial results eventually.那些试验总算初见成效了。

6 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！