In Memory of Those Who Served

Bullets flew and ricocheted

I was on that hill today

My Company commander got blown away

I was on that hill today,

There were Claymores and land mines

Hardly any cover I could find

Small arms fire all along the skirmish line

It was bloody hell defined,

As our artillery decimated the enemy

I celebrated with glee

F-4 Phantoms dropped their loads with fury

And still the enemy caused misery,

Blazing away with my M-16 as Charlie crossed the wire

The night lit up with machine gun fire

The battlefield became a funeral pyre

War’s appetite for blood never seemed to tire,

Villagers tending to rice during the day

Became nocturnal guerillas ready to play

They saw us as colonial oppressors in their own way

As we waded through rice paddies in a daze,

Drafted for a hopeless cause that devoured men

But, I was just trying to do my duty then

Yet, there were moments of clarity since I don’t know when

Wishing for those love letters my fiancé would send,

Helicopters dropped us off into the meat grinder of Nam

Hoping we wouldn’t get hit by a launched S.A.M.

I was on the hill that day when the bullet slammed

Right into my flak jacket and I could no longer stand.