Poems that matter

In country

In country

I remember my time over in 'nam

Still smelling the same whiff of napalm

Me and my boys were ready to go

In for a fight we had never known

Cities were small fry and we thought we had won

But the top dogs knew there was more to be done

Into the jungle on boats and in choppers

Hunting down the massing Charlie bullet poppers

I was a tunnel rat and my buds were junkies

Mary jane for them and high on life for me

The bastards were tough, like ninjas or ghosts

Here we were fighting our hardened hosts

Bombing did nothing, neither did shooting

Civies everywhere looking to give us the booting

The dank darkness haunts my nightmares

The tales of the Hilton caught us unawares

When I look back, I feel betrayed

They wanted us home, but we wanted to stay

These people have been through hell with us

But Johnson said this war was a must

What were we fighting for?, what was the point?

Some shit with the commies, but what of our boys?

Friends wanted me out of there, said it was all for not

I stayed in Saigon for some rest that I sought

Close to the embassy with guys from back east

The fighting seemed over for now at least

Come new year, all hell broke loose

VC and NVA had us in a noose

Nixon said things to keep and save face

Getting us all out of there at a steady pace

I stayed at my post as I had always been taught

Years passing and I still wonder why I fought

Near to the end, we were out of the fight

Left it to the south to set things right

Nothing went according to plan

While commies spread everywhere like a fan

All the marines had gone, back to the states

I stayed with the ambassador with even higher stakes

Me and my company secured the site

While the sounds of rockets roared closer each night

April came and people got scared

White Christmas made me and my boys aware

The choppers came to get us out

For the ships on the sea above screams and shouts

The last day of the month, early at four

The last one came, and we all went aboard

Later that day the tanks rolled in

We never thought the north would win

So here I sit looking back on it all

Why do we fight just for good men to fall?

TV and all that took the war home

This ballad of war would be written in tome

Do I feel proud?, I would say no

The memories stayed with me and I could not let them go

Copyright © published by C.Lmauve, 2021.

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