Once A Warrior171533 Poems Read |
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The War May Be Long Over - But !
 
They may think they weren't affected yet they pace all night Even if they do sleep it is only for a few hours at a time If it's over why do they keep checking the doors and windows If you really stop to think aren't you checking your perimeter? Why is it when you saw a shadow your heart then starts to race? Wasn't it just a shrub or bush or did you think it was Charlie? We can all say nah! that's not what I thought even for a moment You may tell yourself you have no thoughts from your days at war But I think anyone who served there still has some reactions yet It's not a sign of weakness on your part to say you were afraid I don't recall a single guy who didn't have that look at one time As those first rounds started impacting on us all it affected you Forty years later you may say out loud that you had no fear at all But we were there with you and we all had some terror in our eyes We recall that fear gripping us as we ran for our defensive bunker After all these years I'm not one bit ashamed to admit I had fear Oh we did our duty there and looked hard as nails to others there But I will admit as those rounds exploded I was scared to death Being terrified during war was nothing to be ashamed of there For it meant you were like the rest of us and wanted to survive Being scared was good it kept you even more alert and focused That combination of fear and respect for the VC kept you alive Helping you keep your head on straight and in turn you survived Because you could take care of business and protect your brothers Yes the war in Vietnam may be long over but we still have feelings They can suddenly leap back to the fore front with a sound or smell We were warriors once and took care of each other there in Vietnam What people always seem to forget is we were just kids at the time We experience things that no human being should ever have to face Went to war as kids and came back as old men who'd seen to much © onceawarrior - all rights reserved. Physically I went to war at twenty years old and I came back from Vietnam at twenty one years old Mentally I went to war at twenty years old but I returned back from war as a forty year old man !
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