HOW QUICKLY THE YEARS HAVE PASSED BY US

On October 5th, 2011 the eagles gathered once more
It was their 17th reunion since finding each other
These once strong and muscular warriors of Vietnam

Some were as fit as the day they had returned home
Some were now suffering from the ravages of time
Some were a shadow of the peacekeepers they were

And yes many of us were now very old and heavy
With disabilities received from the after effects
From this herbicide sprayed called Agent Orange

Regardless of all these facts they still gathered
To remember our own 111 brothers lost in Vietnam
One mother and her son's old fiancee come yearly

We all call her Mom and we are her adopted sons
Her own son gave his life trying to save others
And we all have adopted Mom And Erlyse as well

Erlyse later married but each year she comes too
Escorting Mom to each of these special reunions
Mom turned 92yrs. old on this past Veterans Day

She and the other 110 are our Gold Star Mothers
Those who have lost a son during the Vietnam War
Each year these warriors the survivors all gather

To remember them and to pay our respects to them
They are forever young in Heaven and we are old
But time or our own health issues won't stop us

This was my very first reunion that I had attended
I will try to go to each one I can now in the future
It had felt so good to be reuniting with my brothers

And to be able to bring my wife too was very special
Because she got to meet those I had served with there
We had talked about everything but little of the war itself

It's as though all that bitterness and that anger had left
And it was now replaced with the pride of who we were
And what we all had accomplished despite all the odds
 
It was 47 years ago in Nov.1968 that I left for Vietnam
And on Oct.5th, 2011 I had finally returned home at last
I am proud to have served as a member of this elite group

To us and those like us no matter which base you were at
We'd all served our great nation in times of war and peace
We were young and we grew up so fast and became men

We fought to defend freedom and we defended each other too
Many had died and many more still suffer from their wounds
And many still suffer illnesses they contracted while in Vietnam
 
We were brothers and we have always taken care of our own
One thing is for certain as long as even one of us remains alive
We will pay our respects and honor each and everyone of them

 

© Terry Sasek - Alwaysawarrior - all rights reserved.
  
  (Reposted by a request from one of my fellow Security
   Police brothers who served with me at Binh-Thuy AB)

 

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