Written and submitted by Ken Keck
11- Foxtrot
Recon, 1/20th, 11th LIB, Americal Div 67-68
MACV, Advisory Team 43, Chu Chi Dist, 71-72
Dedicated to
"All" Recon Soldiers
I'll cry some more, perhaps Forever
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No one really knows my thoughts
I believe I hide it well
The hate that boils within my heart
The major strife of my personal hell
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Clean weapons first, the rucksack,
change of clothes,
check your ammo, clean every magazine.
Watch a Sunset fading over the
mountains
Everything so quiet, so peaceful, so
surean
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We went to Vietnam to fight
An enemy we did not know
And fight we did with all our hearts
We believed, We weren't afraid to go.
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Charley probes the defenses about 0230
Flares up, all hell breaks loose,
firing left, firing right
Out of the bunkers to the perimeter
There will be no more sleep tonight
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The jungle, so quiet, so dark..Ambush!
The shadows, moving, aiming, a flash
Fire from the flank, someone falling,,
who?
Firing rat-a-tat-tat, to the right, a dash
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Letters from home, newspapers and such
Who are all of these demonstrators
Burning my flag, calling me names
Seems to me like they're a bunch of
traitors
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A cry! "I'm hit!" medic,
more flashes
Grenade, "down!", WHOOM!
Crawling, firing, cries, death sounds!
Here, now, the jungle becomes a tomb
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Resupply, rested, back to the paddies
Can't get them out of my mind
We're dying over here, can't they see
that back home
I'm not a baby killer, if anything I'm
too kind
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What?, it's over, smoke clearing
How long? An eternity passed.....30
seconds
More cries, moaning, LT.
"Everyone ok?
1st Squad? "Yo, all ok",
2nd? two down!,
3rd, ...?..Point man" (he
beckons)
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Kids, women, men, all trying to kill
us
While the politicians tie our hands,
Do not fire unless fired upon...( I
don't think so!)
come over here and fight with us, get
your ass off the mainland's
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No answer.."Wheres's the
point?..He's over here LT.
He's gone LT.,never knew what hit
him"
Others wounded, bandages, need medevac
RTO, get on the horn, the rest,
search, keep lights dim
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Oh man, one and a wakeup, tomorrow up
to Da Nang
Catch that freedom bird, homeward
bound
Steak and eggs at Ft Lewis, bus to San
Fran
One more flight to Chicago, then on to
my home town
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Check the VC, weapons, maps, anything
they have
"Choppers on the way LT., to the
landing zone!
Perimeter secure, strobe lights on,
dust off coming in
Load the wounded, everyone back, they
go the rest of the way alone
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They're everywhere these college kids,
protesting what?
I'm just a tired soldier, get out of
my way I'm going home to see my wife and child
Okay, that's it, I've had enough, cold
cocked, I let him lay
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Liftoff, "Let's go Recon,
assemble on me"!
Fade back into the jungle, the night
is young
Ambush site, L-shaped, claymores out
Silence deafening, watching the trail,
prayers unsung
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Thirty-one years has past us by, seems
like yesterday
A successful person in the 90's,
making pretty good pay
But the anger deep inside of me, no
welcome home for any
My heart is broken, we all paid a price,
it just won't go away
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Night after night, day after day
It seems like it never ends
A reprieve, two days at base camp
Time to cleanup, have a drink with
friends
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Now ready to retire, only one thing
left to do
the trip to the wall, it beckons me,
will this truly be the end
Will the anger that has ravaged my
body leave
When I lay my hand upon the wall, will
it say " Welcome home my friend"
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Or. will I cry some more...Will my
anger build...Will I cry perhaps... ... ... forever?
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