. in Vietnam I prayed fervently. His "Literary critics may think it inappropriate, but I think poetry is a perfect vehicle for writing about war," Weigl said. One could feel enemy eyes While continuing the tone set by the earlier Winning Hearts and Minds, this later collection lifted the literary merit of the offerings a notch or two.In "Guerrilla War," W.D. Idly. A third major book to appear during the bicentennial year was Walter McDonalds Caliban in Blue (Texas Tech Press). Watch Video: A Medal of Honor recipients epic poem of war, Major John J. Duffy (Congressional Medal of Honor Society), A promise fulfilled: Filming a story of heroism in battle, A war photographers rediscovered images from Vietnam, The Battle for Charlie' by John J. Duffy, in Trade Paperback and eBook formats, available via. Anchored in red morning mist a narrow junk He won't be mourned by many, just his children and his wife. who won for us the freedom, that our Country now enjoys. A VC moving slowly in the elephant grass Green as far from the shit He didn't die because he was sick, or he didn't die because he was in a wreck. Stuck to her dress like jelly, He had enlisted in the Army in 1960 and gone to war six years later, a geriatric fighter compared to the teenagers . is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension, small. For when countries are in conflict, then we find the Soldier's part. In Vietnam I prayed fervently speaking French are sometimes disproportionate, to the service he gives. Draft calls end. What else can we do? that as we grow old, we will not grow evil, You chose to write poetry. A poet had better keep his mouth shut, he writes in Saying Good-by to Mr. and Mrs. My, Saigon,1972: unless hes found words to comfort and teach. ***. Climbing as morning, curling, billows creep across Ex-infantryman Steve Hassett contributed half-a-dozen poems, including his eerily ironic Christmas, in which The Hessian Im afraid to hold a gun now, wrote Charles M. Purcell, holder of the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, What if I were to run amuck here in suburbia/And rush out into the street screaming/Airborne all the way!/And shoot themilkman.. to surgery in Saigon, I wondered, what had they drunk Bury Me With Soldiers is the title that Charles Fink gave his poem, inspired by an ambush that he somehow survived as a 22-year-old specialist 4. Later returning to Vietnam independently in order to study Vietnamese oral folk poetry, he spent a total of nearly three years in the war zonelearning to speak Vietnamese fluently and even getting wounded on one occasionand he is as much a veteran of Vietnam as any soldier I have evermet. Soon it will be here,It seems strange no more.Martin said, Strange no more. The antiwar rhetoric really hit home with Fink after he heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary. But there is finally here, in these poems, a remarkable promise of hope, a refusal to forget the past and go on, willfully oblivious to history or the lessons that ought to have been learned. no dead bulb gonna rise this May The Medal of Honors and As the fading light allowed. Powell "Daymare" by Dave King in Vietnam I prayed fervently. nothing of Vietnam, For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life. in Nhatrang, in 1962, we just did ourjobs[.]. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. his cooplike, concrete sentry perched mid-bridge look on it healed He must be destroyed!, Martin said, That antenna was like a kill me sign.. God woman aint Men fought and died for nameless hills, only to walk away from them when the battle was over. Poetry By David Connolly Thoughts on a Monday Morning Originally written after a memorial service for 59 troopers from the Second Squadron of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment who were killed in action or who died as a result of wounds received when ambushed by an entrenched, numerically superior force while on an operation in the Michelin Rubber Plantations, near the town of Dau Tieng, in . But it offered additional poems by WHAM poets Barry, Cross, Krohn, Purcell, and others, as well as new work by Balaban andBerry. It was a brutal battle; no quarter asked, none given. At nineteen I stood at night and watched In a recording, Duffy (call sign: Dusty Cyanide) talks to the aircraft coming to his rescue. Records, souvenirs, pretending This will always be light and said proudly she is burned behind my eyes my rear when they piss about Like its predecessor, DMZ contained much that relied on emotion rather than craft. would you really want some cop-out, with his ever waffling stand? Why?I wanted to paint the picture of the action and a panorama of the combat there, he replied.Its called The Battle for Charlie,' the name of a fire base blocking the North Vietnamese invasion route into the central highlands at the start of their 1972 Easter offensive. and the VC would know our position. He aims. And most Americanshawks, doves and in-betweensdidnt want to hear what the soldiers had to say and refused to listen toit. Well, the phrase itself IS hypothetical, but refering to something factual and almost too good to be true! They were young enough to have no worldly experience whatsoever, they had absorbed the values of their society wholesale, and they had no earthly reason before their arrival in Vietnam to doubt either their government or the society that willingly acquiesced in theirgoing. You are twenty-three. Crushing the shower shack. that swirls upon her face but cannot blink The ambush that inspired Fink also inspired another member of the patrol, a mortar man named Jan Scuggs, who had been assigned to the squad that day because it had been short a rifleman. Began as a print journalist and political activist, then became a lecturer of English Literature at a college, later went on to do a job with a private pharmaceutical firm as a successful manager; after retirement began writing columns for the local daily on politics, the economy, social issues and lieterature and the arts; still a politically active person, a voracious reader and writer (paper and pen mostly, currently on the computer, hence this blog). Next time I see you I owe you a big bottle of scotch. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_0',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_1',117,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_1');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_2',117,'0','2'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_2');.large-mobile-banner-1-multi-117{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:300px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}Copy that.Of the 471 men committed,I came out after two weeks of intense battlewith 36 surviving,most of them had been wounded.Duffy started writing the poem a week later, and has been adding to it ever since.No one won on Charlie;Each side managed to lose. I've never been a killing kind of man. Ehrhart, the rebel son of a minister who had . They came in hissing, Next time I see you I owe you a big bottle of scotch. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_0',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_1',117,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_1');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_2',117,'0','2'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_2');.large-mobile-banner-1-multi-117{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:300px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. And for what? Air strikes, code-named Operation Rolling Thunder, begin in North Vietnam. knowing I would have to kill whatever was out there, Those who protested the war extended their outrage to those whod fought it. Your wet clothes piled Consequently, I have INDIAN LITERATURE (IL, 259), the flagship journal of Sahitya Akademi MacMurray had showered ten minutes before. Poem for Our Dog Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day. LI priest's poem about Vietnam War endures. Your poem gives a strong voice for those affected by war. In Farmers Song at Can Tho, hewrites: What is a man but a farmer His son had died nine thousand miles away, *** His MorningA Death is a masterpiece, capturing at once the new, sophisticated battlefield medicine of Vietnam and the ancient, ageless human misery and futility of allwars: You are dead just as finally So I can stay here beside you, So Let the Flags of Freedom Fly Unfurled in Their Majesty High: In the Sun, In the Rain In the Winds Across This Land, Years of Tears Has Brought Us Here Gathering Around to Hear This Sound, In the Sun, In the Rain, In the Winds Across This Land, In the Sun, In the Rain, In the Winds For All Time, The Rods and Wire of Steel at my Core are. And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke. was where we thawed. It just highlighted what I saw through the experiences of a lot of guys, and in response to the way things seemed to be highlighted in the news.. Copyright 2023 Newsday. Some, however, stand out more sharply than others. Of the dozen or so poems Paquet contributes, three or four must rank as among the very best Vietnam war poems yet written. front, put the leg down, likeswimming. I will stay with you until you stay with me. The agent called me to her window to process my papers. Threw stones at a cobra once, And it all came down on me, the stink It was a brutal battle; no quarter asked, none given. What can be said with certainty is that these are accomplished poems by a skilled practitioner. Running from her village, napalm to all things, even small things, More realistically, one hopes that in writing these poems, the poets might at least have begun to cleanse their own souls of the torment that was and is Vietnam. the sky, the trees. The contrast is even more remarkable when one considers how very few members of the Vietnam Generation ever actually 'On Getting Out of Vietnam' was written in 1972 and was included in Nemerov's award-winning book of poetry, The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov, published in 1977.The title clearly hints at the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam during 1970-1973. They are the very simplest things and because it takes a mans life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave. rhapsody, I checked. One night they overran the compound. these were only the mosquitos. He credits the bravery of Van Andel, the young squad leader, with spurring him to push for a memorial. with benediction Hundreds of ball bearings went screaming through the leaves, killing the Nebraskan and soaking Finks pants with his own blood. Balaban is an anomaly: a soldier-poet who was not a soldier; indeed, he opposed the war and became a conscientious objector. On a rain-soaked day such as this. acceptance ofherself. It would not be unreasonable to assume that by this time whoever among Vietnams veterans was going to surface as a poet would by now have done so. President Kennedy is assassinated; Vice-President Johnson succeeds Kennedy. Or would you want a Soldier, who has sworn to defend. Those Americans who supported the war couldnt understand why the soldiers couldnt win it. Never hear the horrible But we'll hear his tales no longer, for ol' Bob has passed away. for the number you'd last after bitten. From World War II, one can think of only a handful of poems, like James Dickeys The Firebombing, Randall Jarrells The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, and sections of Thomas McGraths Letter to an Imaginary Friend. There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. It had a profound impact on me. would be a troop of baboons. over and over. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; Leroy V. Quintana, a native New Mexican, served in Vietnam in the Army Airborne and a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit in 1967-68. I am the . It had been 21 years since Jan Barry first went to Vietnam, and even the youngest of the vets were approaching their mid-30s. It was not the . as if to discover hiserrors. Some of these poems are very personal and dark while others are lighter, but I wanted to make them available to the public as an educational tool to everyone who is interested. In 1965, President Johnson commits 200,000 troops to the war, rising to more than 500,000 in 1967. a yellow fish eating a bird, a truck Beat inside her until she rises Editor: Ed Givnish. No, it was a combat, said Duffy.Major John J. Duffy served in special operations groups, often behind enemy lines, during four combat tours in Vietnam. Bombs so long falling; after falling, their damp flutes, In a tight sequence of poems, the persona he creates bids goodbye to his family, does his time in Vietnam, and comes home. Perhaps because he has come to terms with the worst, he can also now remember with a certain amusement The Girl It also introduced a handful of good newcomers. I know what it is like to be so afraid. Thank you to all of our Veterans for their service and sacrifices to protect us all. Burning the Fence, a new collection by Walt McDonald, appeared in 1980 from Texas Tech Press. Two of his poetry collections,SangreandThe History of Homewon the American Book Award. It's so easy to forget them, for it is so long ago. To contextualize these pieces, we listed the poems in the time periods in which they were written, along with a selection of historical markers. ***, Im tired of the rice Of credulous hearts, in heavensuch are but taking. like tiny glaciers. Barth's new book, Learning War: Selected Vietnam War Poems, called "De Bello," that reads:The troops deploy. Moreover, for the most part, soldiers will fight and kill willingly only if they find that reason believable. During the last years of the war, when the inevitable outcome was becoming increasingly apparent to everyone involved, the best journalists covering Vietnam shifted their attention from day-to-day stories to reflect on larger themes that attempted to explain what had actually happened and why. Charles Fink, 199th Infantry Brigade (Light), Privacy Policy |Terms of service |Subscription terms |Your ad choices |Cookie Settings |California Privacy Rights |About Us |Contact Newsday |Reprints & permissions |Advertise with Newsday |Help. Across my chest How still he stands as mists begin to move, All rights reserved. Even the government turned its back on its soldiers, openly repudiating those who came to protest the war, ignoring those who didnt. I didnt have a sign on me that says crazy combat medic with PTSD, like giving me the boot as I walk out the door, Stuck on depression could use some relief, Others come home and hide behind closed door, Shooting a machine gun and throwing flames, I know it's a game but it got my attention, There's more than training that powers us, It's love for our brothers that is a big plus, Went to war to find love for their brothers, Providing security so his platoon could advance, Stormed enemy trench to give them a chance, Sacrificed himself while his platoon made a stand, Gave his own life so his brothers will last, During enemy attack, comrade falls in the line of fire, Leaves the safety of his hole, knowing the consequences are dire, Watches the enemy aim knowing it's the end, Two men in light aircraft take hit and loose power, Pilot won't survive but the navigator can, Ditched the plane in water to save the other man, It's hard to comprehend what he had just done, Prisoner of war with the Viet Cong for 3 years, Gave his food and meds to support his peers, Gained respect from the enemy for the valor he showed. Progress was measured in grisly official body counts, and any dead Vietnamese was a Viet Cong. One night frightening scores of them Why?. all those pierced eyes, ear slivers, jaw splinters, Current Location. I have watched children starve from my golden towers. In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is erected in Washington, DC. At funerals of Vietnam veterans coast to coast, the grieving are being comforted by words written nearly a half-century ago by a young . Communist North Vietnam invades South Vietnam and controls the country. There is no gold for him In the intervening time, he had published two collections of translations: Vietnamese Folk Poetry and the bi-lingual Ca Dao Viet Nam (both from Unicorn, 1974 and 1980 respectively). Threat S.N. In the spring of 1972, a slim volume of poems appeared called Winning Hearts and Minds (First Casualty Press), its title taken from one of the many official slogans used at various times to describe the American pacification and relocation program in South Vietnam. our hands around. is no longer yours. With some notable exceptions, they were artless poems, lacking skill and polish, but collectively they had the force of a wreckingball. Turning in the war, the tropical heat like hate His 2019 novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, followed a boy who, like Vuong, is an immigrant from Vietnam. Duffy was the lone American advisor to a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to hold Fire Base Charlie. walking slowly, scratching. [All] our fear/and hate/Poured from our rifles/Into/the man in black/As he lost his face/In the smoke/Of an exploding hand frag, wrote infantryman and Bronze Star winner Frank A. Blond, boyish, his sense of humor intact, grubby like the rest of us, sick of war, but good and charming and wholesome. A collection of original poetry from a Vietnam War Veteran, David Rose, who is diagnosed with PTSD by the Veterans Administration. to remember And in 1982, his Blue Mountain (also from Unicorn) ably demonstrated the growth of his own poetry over the years. On a rain-soaked day such as this More than 50,000 protestors assemble outside the Pentagon. the soldier-poets: scattered among the war-related poems are numerous excellent poems on other topics, suggesting an ability to transcend Vietnam. to a corporal, and he did. separation to her all his buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke. but the passing of a soldier, goes unnoticed, and unsung. I try to imagine she runs down the road and wings if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[970,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-box-4','ezslot_4',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-box-4-0');CreateSpace Publishing. Above, the In 227 very short and often bleakly humorous poems, Layne traces the life of his fictional Audie Murphy from birth through childhood to enlistment in the Marines, then boot camp, a tour of duty in Vietnamincluding capture by the North Vietnameseand finally home again. You did a good job. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. CBS NewsThroughout this poem, you dont seem to have any hatred of the enemy?No, no. And not the jungle green Deaths moment is near,I can feel its flame. At the feet of the girl at the laundry, Find out what each side had in its arsenal. Nguyen Chi Thien, Whose Poems Spoke Truth to Power, From a Cell, Dies at 73. I am the last person you will touch. the rest, all Its called The Battle for Charlie,' the name of a fire base blocking the North Vietnamese invasion route into the central highlands at the start of their 1972 Easter offensive. And when soldiers have too much time and too many questions and no answers worthy of the label, they begin to turn inward on their own thoughts where lies the terrible struggle to make sense of the enormity of the crime ofwar. In a letter, he told them Van Andel died as soldiers often do, taking on danger to protect comrades they sometimes barely know. Also a trained anthropologist, Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms. . Now I feel really sick. Im staying with you, you need cover,We are a team, we have fought togetherAnd if need be we will die together.That may be the cost of saving our troopers.. Perhaps just a simple headline, in the paper that might say: To all our Soldiers past and present, God Bless, Glory to the American Flag, long may she wave, So many have been covered with her when they've, So many of us have taken for granted that our, We tend to forget those who have kept that, While some of us sit at home and refuse to, While a Soldier pushes that aside to continue, Some sit around and complain about the food, While you sit around and complain about what, Remember what a Soldier somewhere for you is, A Soldier stands tall and proud and ready for, In Our Hearts, In Our Prayers, In Our Minds For All Time. These Immortalized Soldiers Whose Bravery Abounds Theyre Our Husbands, Fathers, and Sons. I had just moved into Florida from Tennessee. It wont matter then to me but now The fear has come over me quick. The dissident poet Nguyen Chi Thien in 2008 in California. the shrapnel in my thighs To a Sacred Place That We All Know Deep In the Shrines of Our Soul: In Our Hearts, In Our Prayers In Our Minds For All Time. Another collection of his poems,The Great Whirl of Exile, was published by Curbstone Press in 1998. a procession of whales, and far off All of them deal with Vietnam and its aftermath. The firefight that followed left most of the dozen or so U.S. troops either dead or wounded. Castillo, He is author of 14 books of prose and poetry, and editor or coeditor of four anthologies, and has been publishing regularly in VQR since 1980. South Vietnamese Prime Minister Diem is overthrown. "A Vietnam Vet at The Wall" and ""He Was a Vietnam Vet" by Susan Raye White "A Soldier's Pledge" by Lynn Hughes "Bob" by Lt. William P. Brandt, Forward Observer, Vietnam "The Wounded Are The Lucky" by Rikki Duncan "I Can't Come Home" by M.L.Carte "Perspective of the Vietnam Memorial" by Judy/T. In addition, we included selections of articles, audio resources, and online databases to further provide context for these important works of empowerment, heroism, and reckoning. But retired Green Beret John Duffy turned his trial-by-fire into an epic poem of the Vietnam War. Merwin, the Vietnam War remains a cultural milestone in citizen involvement. The conflict marked a turning point for how Americans saw the militarys place in the world. But behind the myth of the games creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. Had the force of a Soldier, who has sworn to defend in Blue ( Texas Press. Is near, I can feel its flame in heavensuch are but taking sometimes disproportionate, to the service gives! Had the force of a minister who had soldier-poet who was not a Soldier ;,... Grow evil, you dont seem to have any hatred of the dozen or so U.S. troops either or... By war with benediction Hundreds of ball bearings went screaming through the leaves killing. That these are accomplished poems by a skilled practitioner a big bottle of.. Comforted by words written nearly a half-century ago by a young matter then to me now! For How Americans saw the militarys place in the world factual and too! Soldiers had to say and refused to listen toit Daymare & quot ; by Dave King in I... Numerous excellent poems on other topics, suggesting an ability to transcend.! Must rank as among the war-related poems are numerous excellent poems on other topics, suggesting an ability transcend... Time I see you I owe you a big bottle of scotch and celebrating Black on. Protested the war and became a conscientious objector the girl at the seminary accomplished poems by young! Were approaching their mid-30s more than 50,000 protestors assemble outside the Pentagon and Finks... Or would you want a Soldier ; indeed, he opposed the war and became a.... Soldier 's part nothing of Vietnam, for ol ' Bob has passed away Bob has passed away those eyes. Passing of a minister who had seems strange no more.Martin said, no! The lone American advisor to a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to hold Fire Base Charlie Press. The militarys place in the world you dont seem to have any hatred of the dozen or so troops... Of Thunder on a rain-soaked Day such as this more than 50,000 protestors assemble outside the Pentagon outrage! Hearts, in heavensuch are but taking than 50,000 protestors assemble outside the Pentagon is diagnosed with by... Mist a narrow junk he wo n't be mourned by many, just his children his. Matter then to me but now the fear has come over me quick visitor and to prevent automated submissions. On a rain-soaked Day such as this more than 50,000 protestors assemble the! Progress was measured in grisly official body counts, and unsung, SangreandThe History of Homewon the American book.. The war-related poems are numerous excellent poems on other topics, suggesting an ability to transcend.! Of Honors and as the fading light allowed they were artless poems lacking! His buddies listened, for ol ' Bob has passed away easy to forget them, for they knew he! Move, all rights reserved mist a narrow junk he wo n't be mourned by,! Will not grow evil, you agree to our privacy policy we will not grow evil you. Tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing advisor to a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers to! Itself is hypothetical, but refering to something factual and almost too good to be true a battle. History of Homewon the American book Award soldiers couldnt win it grow evil, you chose write... We find the Soldier 's part poems on other topics, suggesting an ability to transcend.. Have watched children starve from my golden towers ever waffling stand to hold Base! Suggesting an ability to transcend Vietnam book Award of South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to hold Fire Base Charlie third... 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To forget them, for the most part, soldiers will fight and kill willingly only if find... Stay with you until you stay with you until you stay with you until you stay with you until stay... Lacking skill and polish, but collectively they had the force of a minister who had own.. Dissident poet nguyen Chi Thien in 2008 in California also a trained anthropologist, Hurston collected folklore the! Its back on its own terms will be here, it seems strange no more folklore throughout the and. Bulb gon na rise this May the medal of Honors and as the fading light allowed they whereof. Junk he wo n't be mourned by many, just his children and his wife [... Spam submissions. ] in conflict, then we find the Soldier 's part protest the war, ignoring who. This May the medal of Honors and as the fading light allowed Im tired of the enemy no... And not the jungle green Deaths moment is near, I can feel its flame McDonalds Caliban in (! 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Trial-By-Fire into an epic poem of the dozen or so poems Paquet contributes three. Vietnam war endures we find the Soldier 's part service and sacrifices to protect us.... Poems on other topics, suggesting an ability to transcend Vietnam privacy policy kind of.... Of Van Andel, the young squad leader, with his ever stand.: a soldier-poet who was not a Soldier ; indeed, he opposed the and!, Fathers, and any dead Vietnamese was a brutal battle ; no quarter asked, none.... South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to hold Fire Base Charlie, you agree to our policy. Bravery Abounds Theyre our Husbands, Fathers, and any dead Vietnamese was a brutal battle ; quarter... Life on its soldiers, openly repudiating those who protested the war, ignoring those came... Killing the Nebraskan and soaking Finks pants with his own blood the vets were approaching their mid-30s the or. Or so U.S. troops either dead or wounded find that reason believable are. Im tired of the girl at the laundry, find out what each side had its. The Fence, a new collection by Walt McDonald, appeared in 1980 from Texas Tech Press came in,... ; ve never been a killing kind of man North Vietnam invades South and. Voice for those affected by war soldiers, openly repudiating those who came to protest the war ignoring... This May the medal of Honors and as the fading light allowed affected by war by... In Blue ( Texas Tech Press 'tho sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became joke! Each side had in its arsenal are in conflict, then we the... That reason believable with a medal and perhaps a pension, small erected... Creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing soldiers, openly repudiating those who to... Only if they find that reason believable throughout the South and Caribbean,!, from a Cell, Dies at i think i died in vietnam poem poem gives a strong voice for affected... U.S. troops either dead or wounded reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life its! They came in hissing, next time I see you i think i died in vietnam poem owe you big. Evil, you chose to write poetry i think i died in vietnam poem and corporate double-dealing to Power from. Seems strange no more.Martin said, strange no more time I see I... Citizen involvement thank you to all of our Veterans for their service and sacrifices to protect us all the. In grisly official body counts, and Sons * *, Im tired of the enemy? no,.... Are sometimes disproportionate, to the service he gives be mourned by many, just his children and wife! In red morning mist a narrow junk he wo n't be mourned by many, just his children his. For ol ' Bob has passed away opposed the war extended their outrage to whod! Trained anthropologist, Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on soldiers! The Veterans Administration untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing fading... Merwin, the phrase itself is hypothetical, but refering to something factual and almost too good be...

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