Observation

      When anyone sees Mr. Arnold on the street the first thing that comes into mind is that this “old man” must be spectacularly proud of himself and must not really like anyone around. Mr. Arnold has a gaze which makes any individual want to disappear in time and space. This gaze asks: “What are you worth of in this life?”.  His step is firm although he uses a walking stick to move and the handshake he demonstrates seems to be shaped in countless official social events. The way Mr. Arnold dresses is always full of elegance, restrain and style. He is so neat that it forms the impression that he never sits in his clothes: not a tuck, no unnecessary bends. Mr. Arnold’s imperial bearing leaves everyone with no doubt that the life behind his shoulders has seen so many events and tragedies that one cannot even imagine.

     The inside of Mr. Arnold’s house corresponds to what one sees in the eyes of this man: dignity and honor. The old style furniture, medals on the walls, old black-and-white pictures of young people who sometimes had military cloths on. The house and Mr. Arnold are breathing with the sense of “order”. Mr. Arnold answers the questions in a very clear manner without unnecessary clichés. The question “Who are you, Mr. Arnold?“, gave birth to  a rather unexpected answer: “I am one of those soldiers who were brought to Vietnam in April 1695”. This phrase truly depicts many aspects of the life of this man. Though it has been more than forty years since that war, Mr. Arnold still has not lost the military bearing. Mr. Arnold does not tell much about his life before that war, but mostly he makes an accent on the fact that his life started only when the war was over.

     Watching Mr. Arnold’s home archive of “yellow” photography makes one feel the pain and love which lives in the heart of its owner. During the visit, Mrs. Arnold made Mr. Arnold take several pills saying: “He hardly moves and it’s progressing”. This moment truly revealed the image of Mr. Arnold as his courage is not only the courage of a soldier he used to be but the courage of a man who opposes with dignity the disease that he cannot fight. Mr. Arnold realizes that one day his leg disease will stop him, but until that moment he will continue walking with the same firmness. Such courage is unpretentious and adamant; it comes from the willpower owing to which Mr. Arnold without any complaints is able to stand the constant pain and still not forget about his family and take care of them.

      Visits to Mr. Arnold leave a very “spiritual” impression, teach a “lesson” one wants to learn and get an “A”.  Though Mr. Arnold looks very tough in the exterior, his interior is very simple, beautiful and honest. Mr. Arnold is just a simple man, with a brave heart and with a gaze of a man who knows that means to be faithful to himself and his country.