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I agree with your opposition to the Left’s agenda and I appreciate your warm words. We did what we were supposed to do and I was lucky enough to survive it.

The “shakes” as we used to call it, happened to everyone and sometimes could be funny. When I came back for a short leave in early ‘67, I went to visit a girlfriend who worked in a large department store. That store had large automatic sliding glass doors and just as I went in, a car backfired right behind me.

I hit the floor so fast I hurt my nose and the darn glass doors closed around my waist and I was caught like a fish. I lay there struggling for a bit and an older woman came up to me and asked me what was wrong.

I got up all red-faced and said “epilepsy, Ma’am” and escaped.

... and just as I went in, a car backfired right behind me.
Three days after leaving VN, I was driving across a large intersection with my future wife when a car backfired. I went flat across the front seat in a nanosecond.
Fortunately, she grabbed the wheel and we survived ... and we've been telling that story for 45 years.

BTW, back in the day, backfires happened often but you just drove on. Worst case you replaced a bad $2 spark plug.
Today, you get the dreaded check engine light, and a $200 bill from your mechanic. Ah, progress.