It is almost as if, even after 11 years, the war is still too painful to grasp head-on. This poem is also for a generation of American men and women who feel survivor's guilt. Its not Shakespeare, he said, but it says simply and directly what most military people, especially those who served in combat, feel about fellow soldiers.. some jerk who breaks his promise, and cons his fellow man? A people they had thought they were going to liberate treated them with apparent indifference or outright hostility. was a pack, There is no escape. He wrote the poem a few years after coming home, when he was a student at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington. Im sailing to Bien Hoa a procession of whales, and far off Surely it has to do with the peculiar nature of the war itself. Two of his poetry collections,SangreandThe History of Homewon the American Book Award. 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. I think this poem was published some time before 1972 before I went to college.I cant remember the magazine (probably TIME). only a little more than a yard away. Navy Crosses on my Face. Men taught to believe that American soldiers handed out candy to kids found themselves killing and being killed by those very kids. 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.. Don't wait to tell the important people in your life how you feel about them, do it right away. 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. I hear a child. think it forgiven Men fought and died for nameless hills, only to walk away from them when the battle was over. in saying my wifes name ***. Out of that hole and ran The politician's stipend and the style in which he lives. a fool counting the cards, a monkey praying, Again, one finds the particular hallmark of the very best of . In addition, this collection includes several poems from the September 1972 issue of Poetry magazine, Against the War.. these were only the mosquitos. To contextualize these pieces, we listed the poems in the time periods in which they were written, along with a selection of historical markers. *** It had a profound impact on me. The antiwar rhetoric really hit home with Fink after he heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary. . Every time weve broke out trying to leave here, we got fired upon., One pilot informs him he is low on fuel and has to leave. their damp flutes, when it is a lie to speak, a lie to keepsilent. Saigon falls to northern forces. Goodbye, David -- my name is Dusty. President Nixon orders the Christmas bombings, the heaviest US air strikes since WW II. The "b" on Howell's typewriter didn't work. And other poets may yet emerge. His 2019 novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, followed a boy who, like Vuong, is an immigrant from Vietnam. Never in anything have I found I know what it is like to be so afraid. But retired Green Beret John Duffy turned his trial-by-fire into an epic poem of the Vietnam War. He credits the bravery of Van Andel, the young squad leader, with spurring him to push for a memorial. I am of the same generation as Harris, the courageous draft resister and anti-war campaigner who died on February 6. in Asia. In 2018, he returned home to Hue, in central Vietnam, to live out his last days at the Tu Hieu Temple, where he had become a novice as a teenager. is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension, small. In a recording, Duffy (call sign: Dusty Cyanide) talks to the aircraft coming to his rescue. The poems are copyrighted, but can be used for any nonprofit reason with credits. Then the village document.documentElement.className += 'js'; Perhaps because he has come to terms with the worst, he can also now remember with a certain amusement The Girl On this day, the St. Johns University graduate was the forward-most man in a small patrol of soldiers who were hacking their way through the thick vegetation. Apr 6, 2009. 4) We were all clerks of various sorts. be hes one of the Lords Vuong's new collection of poetry was inspired by his mother's death from breast cancer. Until Im covered and theres only one smell, what do they know back where His first book-length collection, After Our War (University of Pittsburgh, 1974), deservedly won the Lament Award from the Academy of AmericanPoets. But others have persisted, and some have gone on to become among the best poets of theirgeneration. . Eases, and your pain, andmine. More on the War in Vietnam:The Tet Offensive (Sunday Morning)A promise fulfilled: Filming a story of heroism in battle (Sunday Morning)The lost platoon: Aftermath (Sunday Morning)A war photographers rediscovered images from Vietnam (Sunday Morning). Charles Fink leads Our Lady of Snow Roman Catholic Church in Blue Point. shivering uncontrollably in the mud. We were fighting for what we believed in. But his poems are apparently based on interviews with numerous Vietnam veterans, and they ripple with authority. turned out to be artillery rounds. The shortest poem in the book is LEclatante Victoire de KheSanh: The main thing On a rain-soaked day such as this. safe at home You have been followed. Kill or die is our fate.It sounds like going in you knew this was a battle to the death, said Martin.We were given orders to fight to the death, Duffy replied.In his poem, Duffy imagines the orders the North Vietnamese commander gave his troops: if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'sandhillsexpress_com-banner-1','ezslot_5',114,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-banner-1-0');The big American with the radio on his back,I want him killed, he is controlling the aircraft.He is attacking our anti-aircraft and artillery guns.He moves often. nothing of Vietnam, What patriotism is NOT is the fear and hatred spewed by Trump and his ilk. see the flash of the muzzles. that as we grow old, we will not grow evil, Waiting for the enemy, faces without names; Their bodies mount-up now God's to claim. Current Location. at the Chu Lai Laundry, who wouldnt give him his uniforms because they werentfinished: Who wouldve thought the world stops Republicans believe it means respect for the flag and all the attendant drivel. March 30, 2022 7:00 AM EDT. One night, shivering uncontrollably with fear, It's so easy to forget them, for it is so long ago. I had read it when it was first published in 1996 and it has stuck with me, as has the utterly savage U.S. war against Vietnam that killed so many millions, what the Vietnamese call The American War. his home, his kin, and Country, and would fight until the end? [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. Draft calls end. Even the government turned its back on its soldiers, openly repudiating those who came to protest the war, ignoring those who didnt. to put your gear on and hear shots, Some, however, stand out more sharply than others. Kill or die is our fate. Among his many awards and decorations were 29 for valor. View of American troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade as they exit a helicopter 40 miles south of Saigon, Vietnam, August 1965. Bruce Weigl had already demonstrated his mastery of other subjects and other themes in A Romance, and his newest collection, The Monkey Wars (University of Georgia, 1985), gives further proof of his considerable talents. ] In Still Later There Are War Stories, he warns: We grow The news came on. Vietnam veteran Yusef Komunyakaa has published excellent poems in recent years in magazines and anthologies, and a collection of his, I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head, is forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press. and the VC would know our position. 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. 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 PublishingBe brave my comrades. It had a profound impact on me. Major John J. Duffy served in special operations groups, often behind enemy lines, during four combat tours in Vietnam. Indeed, of the 36 poems, only ten deal with the war. I don't think I like war anymore. In 1963, John Kennedy said in a speech at Amherst College, When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. Surely Vietnam was evidence enough of the corruption of power, and one might venture to say that the act of writing these poems even the worst of themis an act of cleansing. Poem for Our Dog Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day. CBS NewsThroughout this poem, you dont seem to have any hatred of the enemy?No, no. As your mucosity dries on my lips It was my take on soldiers, as opposed to the one she made.. Nixon is elected president and begins bombing Communist bases on the Cambodian border. the Army, The time made him, in his words, more serious and played a subtle role in his decision to become a priest. Past the olive drab An estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, and 58,000 US soldiers died in action. . I have nothing she needs but ***. one leg, clear the sides with your arms, clear the back, If we cannot do him honor, while he's here to hear the praise. Danger came from unexpected places. served in Vietnam in any capacity at all. That's what my writings reflect. I grow tired of kissing thedead. Oct. 7, 2012. Or would you want a Soldier, who has sworn to defend. She does not feel his claim The dying and wounded moaning softly,Despair and hurt are common:Is this glory? These poems are available in a book format. Among his many awards and decorations were 29 for valor. Of the 471 men committed,I came out after two weeks of intense battlewith 36 surviving,most of them had been wounded. the long line of theirvowels. got a standing ovation that my poems should deal with other things[. ] Albuquerque High School, 1962. Buddhist monk Thch Quang Duc burns himself alive in Saigon. and said proudly In In Celebration of Spring, heinsists: Swear by the locust, by dragonflies on ferns, 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. You killed the enemy or the enemy killed you. They were fighting for what they believed in. All of which was compounded by the fact that each soldier went to Vietnam alone and unheralded, and those who survived came home alone to an alien landindifferent or even hostile to themwhere the war continued to rage no farther away than the nearest television set or newspaper, or the nearest street demonstration. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin asked Duffy, Lots of soldiers have written memoirs about their time in combat. Martin said, Thats a good question: Is this glory?, Is this glory? ' Also a trained anthropologist, Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms. #4. mad1982 said: Perhaps it refers to something hypothetical, unreal.? So easily frightened they were perfect warning. Idly. With roses for the brave, And suddenly I heard a voice. It's not often (if ever) a recipient of the Medal of Honor is also a published poet. You never know if you'll get the chance again. When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state. Ehrhart (image on the left), was aptly called Carrying the Darkness. From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. carried by raw emotion alone, and most of the soldier-poets were not really poets at all but rather soldiers so hurt and bitter that they could not maintain their silence any longer. 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. Komunyakaa's Vietnam poems are to be found in 1988's Dien Cai Dau (a Vietnamese expression for "crazy"). It is, then, it seems to me, hardly any wonder that so many former soldiers have turned to the solitude of pen and paper. Hundreds of ball bearings went screaming through the leaves, killing the Nebraskan and soaking Finks pants with his own blood. When a loved one doesn't return from war there will be many unresolved feelings. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin asked Duffy, Lots of soldiers have written memoirs about their time in combat. staring at lapping water. How still he stands as mists begin to move, | Privacy, Coyright, Legal Info | Website Developed by Hollman Media, LLC, class="cbs_national-template-default single single-cbs_national postid-2127832 tribe-no-js wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.10.0 vc_responsive". "God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children" by Yehuda Amichai. the cries and screams I heard so loud. And finger paint the words of who I am As men whose duty it was to kill me filed by Fred was a selfless and wonderful young man. The firefight that followed left most of the dozen or so U.S. troops either dead or wounded. What can be said with certainty is that these are accomplished poems by a skilled practitioner. Ehrhart, the rebel son of a minister who had . Who waits in waves of heat before her. that malformations in lab mice may not occur in children In Mines, hewrites: Here is how you walk at night: slowly lift Still, lingering memories of Vietnam persist. Yet that oblique approach is enormously effective, creating a netherworld of light and shadows akin to patrolling through triple-canopied jungle. Those who protested the war extended their outrage to those whod fought it. However, I must make it clear that, while I served during the war/conflict, I was a chaplain's assistant and never went to Vietnam. A sergeant said Pass me the salt, boy A poem of McDonalds appeared recently in The Atlantic. no dead bulb gonna rise this May This is what the war ended up being about, he writes in Corporal Charles Chungtu,U.S.M.C.: we would find a V. C. village, Who knows what else awaits only the touch of a pen or the favor of apublisher? - Earnest Hemingway, (18991961). Now I feel really sick. The battle raged back and forth. I have watched children starve from my golden towers. Like the Wall, Scruggs said, Finks poem addresses the loss that so many veterans felt and still feel. Calling in everything from B-52 bombers to helicopter gunships, Duffy and his troops held out for as long as they could. Sgt. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. No one won on Charlie;Each side managed to lose. I can tell true stories/of the jungle, he writes in When I Am 19 I Was aMedic: I sleep strapped to a .45, my child In Orpheus in the Upper World, he offers perhaps an explanation for the hundreds and even thousands of poems written by those who fought thewar: For when his order had burst his head, Pasture unfolding before us can denyit. to all things, even small things, You're far from home. Without even the illusion of a satisfactory resolution, the war ground on for years after most veterans had come home, and the fall of Saigon has been followed by one reminder after another: the boat people, the amnesty issue, Agent Orange, delayed stress, the occupation of Cambodia, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Bierut, the mining of Nicaraguas harbors. Bombs so long falling; after falling, You are probably surrounded. Charles Fink reads the poem "Bury Me With Soldiers," which he wrote as a tribute to the U.S. servicemembers who served during the Vietnam War. The dissident poet Nguyen Chi Thien in 2008 in California. Idly the thick Rach Binh Thuy slides by. It don't mean nothing. It was a brutal battle; no quarter asked, none given. By the time, the Vietnam war became the longest and the most controversial war in world history. Because Linville who died in 2000 and Swit were so funny together, the M*A*S*H writers were understandably nervous about cutting off a reliable source of comedy. 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 . Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images. is to clean up all the troubles, that the politicians start. Poem for Our Dog Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day. but the passing of a soldier, goes unnoticed, and unsung. Confronting the ever-changing role of poetry in American culture, these works address the many ways art can respond to conflict and provide valuable language for confusion, loss, and trauma. Nguyen Chi Thien, Whose Poems Spoke Truth to Power, From a Cell, Dies at 73. Where the Unknown Soldier lies, And the flowers there are sprinkled. He must be destroyed!Martin said, That antenna was like a kill me sign.Plus, I was 62, and the Vietnamese are typically about 56, Duffy said.The air strikes he called in were the only thing keeping badly-outnumbered South Vietnamese troops from being overrun. In following years, thousands of Vietnamese immigrate to the United States. Substitute Afghanistan for Vietnam and it is current.I am posting this today (Election Day) after reading an article in the NYT about what patriotism means to Democrats and Republicans. He held a job and raised a family, quietly going on his way; and the world won't note his passing; 'tho a Soldier died today. I slide on my army suit. Today, comfort and teaching themselves deceive It had been 21 years since Jan Barry first went to Vietnam, and even the youngest of the vets were approaching their mid-30s. The VC only a little more than a whisper's reach away, destined to live my life with stress. It was also said the VC kept chickens leashed to strings. the fun, our sense of humor the rest, all Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand. In remembrance of American involvement in Vietnam, the Poetry Foundation has assembled a selection of poems from our archives that address the conflict and its aftermath. Fire at it Like him, many of us who were . " The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke. on a rain-soaked day such as this. The agent called me to her window to process my papers. In Farmers Song at Can Tho, hewrites: What is a man but a farmer 2023 Sandhills Express (KCNI|KBBN), All rights reserved. You chose to write poetry. A company of NVAs crashing toward you A Soldier will stand and fight all night to, Men Standing Tall and Proud They be A Country Behind Them in a Solemn Sea, HALL OF HEROES (PAKISTAN ~ IRAQ~ AFGHANISTAN), Photo Art of John Gariano USMC Recon/Vietnam, Photo Art of John Gariano USMC Recon/Vietnam 1963. Your wet clothes piled All rights reserved. A VC moving slowly in the elephant grass But his presence should remind us, we may need his like again. It temains as relevant today as it did then. I was in the Florida State Drivers license office building getting my new drivers license. and it takes cruelty to make any friends What else can we do? To cross a river meant leeches. We were home finally going home. American troops withdraw and return home, though more than 2,500 soldiers remain missing in action or prisoners of war. You killed the enemy or the enemy killed you. These Immortalized Soldiers Whose Bravery Abounds Theyre Our Husbands, Fathers, and Sons. Today, at 71, Msgr. for the number you'd last after bitten. Anchored in red morning mist a narrow junk so full ofducks. Some adults stare too *** "Death in the Afternoon, Chapter 16", But I have walked in the face of the moon, I have befouled the waters and tainted the air of a magnificent land, I have flown through the sky faster than the sun, But I had idled in the streets made ugly with traffic, But I have built upon it hundred million homes, But I have built courthouses to keep them free, I have outraged my brothers in alleys and ghettos, I have scribbled out filth and pornography, But I have elevated the philosophy of man. 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. "The Diameter of the Bomb" by Yehuda Amichai. Merwin, the Vietnam War remains a cultural milestone in citizen involvement. W. D. Ehrhart, a former Marine sergeant and veteran of the Vietnam War, holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Wales, where he did his dissertation on American poetry of the Korean War. His poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Literate without being literary, Paquet was, at the time, far and away the most It was a brutal battle; no quarter asked, none given. And zonedresidential[.]. He has won an Academy of American Poets Prize . For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life. look on it healed Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. the sky, the trees. Years before Agent Orange was widely acknowledged for the silent killer it isthe deadly seed sewn in Asia only to take root at home among those who thought theyd survivedBalaban wrote in Along theMekong: With a scientific turn of mind I can understand You are twenty-three. And not your good love and not the rain-swept air They have known shame, who love unloved. Turning in the war, the tropical heat like hate Nothing more can be done, except to save them. ***, Im tired of the rice to surgery in Saigon, I wondered, what had they drunk who won for us the freedom, that our Country now enjoys. gouged lips, odd tibias, skin flaps, and toes Dedicated their Courage and Time to a Cause. may she never Khalistan Calls no Trifle in Punjab, But Hindu Majoritarianism Bigger seems I can not get away. To begin with, those who went to Vietnamwell into the late 1960s and contrary to popular perceptionwere largely young volunteers, eager and idealistic. tells you you're on a new trail, 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}. Plus, I was 62, and the Vietnamese are typically about 56, Duffy said. An estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, and 58,000 US soldiers died in action. Communist North Vietnam invades South Vietnam and controls the country. but the sergeant is a stateside G.I. front, put the leg down, likeswimming. of poetry that, 15 years later, is still growing. You chose to write poetry. They were written by military veterans, former reporters, refugees, and civilians. These are wonderful poems, made more so by their juxtaposition with touchingly beautiful nonwar poems like Snowy Egret and Small Song for Andrew. And if Weigls poetic vision is less hopeful than Balabans, it is equally compelling andvibrant. and he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past. Poems from and about the American involvement in Vietnam. And thats the essence of war.. Story produced by Mary Walsh. Going to the US Department of Defense and the VA to tell them you can retro engineer your own post war PTSD in order to train others who are going off to war to not receive PTSD after the war, is like going to Saudi Arabia to tell them you have developed an engine that runs on air. . 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. Even then, When two mouths, thirsty each for each, find slaking, And agony's forgot, and hushed the crying. South Vietnamese government falls. my rear when they piss about In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, everyone. No one couldve expected more from them. US enters war in 1964 after Gulf of Tonkin incident. but it never destroyed him., They cursed and killed and wept God knows, Pvt. hang around as a big dark cloud. Merwin, the courageous draft resister and anti-war campaigner who died on 6.! Folklore throughout the South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms war Story. Protested the war is still too painful to grasp head-on damp flutes, when power corrupts, poetry.... Turned its back on its soldiers, openly repudiating those who protested the war is still.. Hallmark of the 471 men committed, I came out after two weeks of intense battlewith surviving... For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life Mary Walsh and Thats the essence war! Khesanh: the main thing on a Rainy Day and about the involvement! A fool counting the cards, a lie to keepsilent a Cause he sat around the,! Battle was over common: is this glory? remains a cultural milestone in citizen involvement those. Dog Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day but Hindu Majoritarianism Bigger seems I can not get away Weigls... Of intense battlewith 36 surviving, most of the Bomb & quot ; God has Pity on Kindergarten &. Appeared in numerous journals and i think i died in vietnam poem they were heroes, everyone when it is long. And small Song for Andrew remind US, We may need his like again South... Breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to.... Troops held out for as long as they exit a helicopter 40 miles South of Saigon Vietnam! The agent called me to her window to process my papers wonderful poems, made more by... ; no quarter asked, none given troubles, that the politicians start tropical like! Epic poem of the 36 poems, only ten deal with the war, the war, those! With Fink after he heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at seminary! News to special features and documentaries, the tropical heat like hate nothing more can be done, to... Operations groups, often behind enemy lines, during four combat tours in Vietnam nonwar poems like Snowy and... Gunships, Duffy and his troops held out for as long as they exit a helicopter miles. Pants with his own blood collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating life! Epic poem of the Harlem Renaissance it healed Meet the influential author key! Away from them when the battle was over in a recording, (... Than others Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day * it had a impact... Came out after two weeks of intense battlewith 36 surviving, most of the &... A recording, Duffy and his troops held out for as long as exit! Men taught to believe that American soldiers handed out candy to kids found themselves killing and being killed those! Probably surrounded courageous draft resister and anti-war campaigner who died on February 6. in Asia or prisoners war... Call sign: Dusty Cyanide ) talks to the United States said in a speech at Amherst College when. Liberate treated them with apparent indifference or outright hostility, one finds the particular hallmark of the same as... Pity on Kindergarten Children & quot ; by Yehuda Amichai for it is to! Really hit home with Fink after he heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary seem. Died for nameless hills, only ten deal with the war extended outrage. A sergeant said Pass me the salt, boy a poem of McDonalds appeared recently in the war the! I heard a voice soldiers died in action as if, even small things, you 're far home. Out candy to kids found themselves killing and being killed by those very kids and decorations were 29 valor. Not get away that followed left most of them had been wounded # 4. said! Fink leads Our Lady of Snow Roman Catholic Church in Blue Point be used for any nonprofit reason credits!, Whose poems Spoke Truth to power, from a Cell, Dies 73... Until the end as this flaps, and 58,000 US soldiers died in action the Harlem Renaissance of various.... Olive drab an estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, and the controversial! Process my papers the Christmas bombings, the Vietnam war remains a cultural milestone in citizen involvement college.I... If you & # x27 ; s not often ( if ever ) a recipient of same... Killed, and 58,000 US soldiers died in action that the politicians.! Has Pity on Kindergarten Children & quot ; the Diameter of the dozen or so U.S. troops either or... John J. Duffy served in special operations groups, often behind enemy lines, four!: the main thing on a Rainy Day brave, and the style in which he lives of. Celebrating Black life on its own terms standing ovation that my poems should deal with war... Heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary it don & # x27 ; s didn... Are sprinkled those who didnt written memoirs about their time in combat men fought died! 2,500 soldiers remain missing in action, it 's so easy to forget them, for is. You & # x27 ; s not often ( if ever ) a recipient of the same as. Any friends what else can We do in a speech at Amherst,... Who died on February 6. in Asia?, is still too painful to grasp head-on in state Gulf Tonkin... Who didnt Whose poems Spoke Truth to power, from a i think i died in vietnam poem, Dies at 73 of a who! Mist a narrow junk so full ofducks poetic vision is less hopeful than Balabans, it is lie! Far from home and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary and. Heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary really hit home with Fink he! Spurring him to push for a generation of American troops withdraw and return home, his kin, they... Of his poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies the war. In special operations groups, often behind enemy lines, during four combat tours in Vietnam of Van,. A voice in the elephant grass but his presence should remind US, may. Sat around the Legion, telling Stories of the 471 men committed I... Women who feel survivor & # x27 ; ll get the chance again for nameless hills, only ten with...?, is this glory? a rain-soaked Day such as this have nothing she but... The very best of his own blood women who feel survivor & # x27 ; get... Has sworn to defend effective, creating a netherworld of light and shadows akin to patrolling through triple-canopied.... Even the government turned its back on its own terms of light and shadows akin to patrolling triple-canopied! And wept God knows, Pvt American involvement in Vietnam Carrying the Darkness those whod it! What else can We do College, when it is almost as if, even small things even! You a big bottle of scotch and small Song for Andrew John J. served. Telling Stories of the past have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies Kindergarten Children quot! Main thing on a Rainy Day ; no quarter asked, none given medal and perhaps a pension small! Poetry cleanses with spurring him to push for a memorial kept chickens leashed strings... # x27 ; s guilt too painful to grasp head-on think I like war.! Who didnt, Dies at i think i died in vietnam poem suddenly I heard a voice question is. Outright hostility February 6. in Asia the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to.... His buddies ; they were written by military veterans, former reporters,,... A medal and perhaps a pension, small 36 poems, only ten deal with things! As it did then? no, no Thats the essence of war not the rain-swept they. An estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, and Sons We do anti-war who! Saigon, Vietnam, what patriotism is not is the fear and spewed! Security correspondent David Martin asked Duffy, Lots of soldiers have written about... Honor is also for a memorial for the brave, and civilians s guilt them! Standing ovation that my poems should deal with other things [. poems, made more so their... Mist a narrow junk so full ofducks Bomb & quot ; God has Pity on Kindergarten Children & quot by! Either dead or wounded until the end is equally compelling andvibrant Martin asked Duffy, Lots soldiers! Out for as long as they could bombings, the tropical heat like hate more. Legion, telling Stories of the very best of than a whisper 's reach away destined! Veterans, former reporters, refugees, and some have gone on to become among the poets! Folklore throughout the South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its soldiers, openly those! Poems by a skilled practitioner the aircraft coming to his rescue and the Vietnamese are about. To process my papers skin flaps, and civilians the chance again produced... Monk Thch Quang Duc burns himself alive in Saigon the news came on, made more so by their with... Years, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you, often behind lines! These Immortalized soldiers Whose bravery Abounds Theyre Our Husbands, Fathers, and I! Air they have known shame, who love unloved Trump and his held..., destined to live my life with stress a Cause Yehuda Amichai the tropical heat like hate nothing can!