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Asphyxia
NMB, Florida September 26, 2001 A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.
ASPHYXIA
When a rock hits you, it is quickly understood that you have been the
object of an attack. You can understand that. A rock hit you. On the other
hand, if you breathe in a noxious substance you cannot stop the attack.
When you realize it has happened, it is all over. When other substances
besides oxygen fill your lungs you cannot breathe. Today most people who
die from asphyxia succumb from breathing carbon monoxide. Only a few today
are deliberately killed by gas - as in executions.
I, as many other veterans who trained for war, was treated to a room filled
with a substance that smelled funny but could not be avoided and it had to
be inhaled. It was a choking substance and the only other time I felt as
fearful and threatened with death was not too long ago when I had my first
asthma-like experience.
Growing up in the 1920s with the First World War still occupying the minds
of all America I was mindful of the gas that was used by all the combatants.
It was a sneaky kind of weapon. You could hear and see most of the bullets
that were thrown at you. These were rocks you could understand. A soldier
going into battle could be prepared for the gas attack if he had a gas mask.
None of these worked well but some were protected. The use of gas against
civilians was, if I remember, not an issue.
The use of gas in World War Two was an issue. I remember the masks that
were available and, again, I had the experience of a training session that
taught us to deal with the reality of being gassed. The Axis and the
Allies, as far as I know, did not use gas against each other. British
civilians were all issued masks and carried them everywhere.
In more recent times I read that the Kurds in Iraq were gassed in the
thousands by Saddam Hussein. The newspapers are carrying stories about gas,
biological and chemical warfare. For years, the Israeli neighbors of Iraq,
Syria, Iran and other Arab countries have been carrying gas masks. The
Iraqis, the Syrians and Iranians are not carrying masks. The threat is very
real and I am very much afraid I am afraid. Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of
10.
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