TV that bothers you

[wayne]

   I tell this story from time to time. Back in the 80's there was a series called Tour of Duty. When it started it was about common soldiers in Vietnam.
  There was one commercial that they had that made the hair on my neck stand up. It started with a black screen. Then you heard a hiss and pop of a flare being launched. The screen slowly brightened as the swaying flare sent light down through the trees. I cannot remember what the voice over said, I wasn't listening. That screen took me back incountry and all I could do was strain to see into the shadows under those trees.
  Spooky feeling.
  Has anyone else had that happen? A time where a scene struck a chord?

[JP]

Can you be more specific? Like a dejavu?

JP

[wayne]

 Flares give away where you are as well as let you see what's out there. They are a last resort when you are all but certain that the enemy is in front of you. Setting there in the dark you can hope that you go un-noticed. That you will see them before they find you and roll in that grenade.
  But when someone fires a flare all bets are off. They now know where you are in a general area. The light of the flare also lights up the smoke trail from the launcher which is a white finger marking the launch site.
  Your fear is that they are hiding out there just beyond the area that the flare lights up. That they see you and your friends but you can't see them. And when the flare dies it's darker than before, because the night vision you spent the hours before getting, was destroyed by the flare's light.
   The sound of the flare and those deep dark shadows brought back those fears. Instinct says get ready, while the brain tries to say it's just TV.