Heart Songs

106,950 poems read

Once A Warrior














 Once A Warrior






 

It has now been what seems so long ago
But to the soldiers that fought 'The War'
It remains to seem as only yesterday

Their horrific battlefield in the beginning
Being labeled as only a conflict

Error number one
 

Vietnam ... 5 August 1965-7 May 1975

The war that was fought by our youth
As even today our wars are fought
 By the same

Youngsters of yesterday's today
Some still living within the days nightmare
As 'Seniors' becomes their label
In the measure of time we see them to be within

Protectors of freedom that experienced
First hand the nightmares that once upon
A time their father's and grandfather's may
Have shared of their own experiences
In the first World Wars

No possible way for them to understand fully
Too busy in youth to realize that one day
They to would have stories to tell
 

Young men and women
Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, years old
That had not yet experienced their lives ...
 
Willingly stood proudly to possibly
Give up what they had yet to find
 

Exposed to the worst possible conditions
To witness daily nightmares
That continue to play within the minds
Of those who only want to forget
The pictures that they see
 

With mail call so far in-between
And first isolation from family
Bringing strong images from home

They stood their solid ground

Did their duty ...

Paid and continue to pay their cost

 

For whom did they make the sacrifice
The answer is far more than clear

We as a Country should
Hang our heads in shame
For the lack of support
Our young Warriors were given
And so many years latter
Are given still
 

They fought stronger and braver
In the defense of our Country
Than any one of us could possibly
See ourselves doing

So young were the ones who
Held close their dying buddies
And heard their final prayers

Making promises of visits to families
If they themselves were to make it home
 

As we sat in our easy chairs
Watching the evening news
It was they that held center stage
In all that we were watching

As a warm meal awaited us
And sleep was to be found
Upon soft pillow and mattress

They picked at a ration
Laid their heads upon hard ground
And prayed to see another morning sun

Visiting home within their dreams   
To awaken to yet another time of hell
 

Sprayed from above the deadly agent
That still brings sleepless nights
And flash backs of yesterday
To men and women whose hair
Is now growing silver
 

Alone in a foreign world
They waged battle that was
No longer a child's game
Only to find that we raised
Our signs in protest


 Too long to place in honor
'The Wall'
With engraved letters
Of Fifty-Eight Thousand
Whose names cannot be
Individually placed
Upon any one poet's page
 By their sheer number
 

They came home to be spit upon
By those who felt the war
Had no meaning

Can you even imagine
How they must have felt

They came home to fight another war
With a government that saw fit
To deny them their benefits without
A constant struggle . . . They struggle still
 

Have we learned anything from Vietnam?
I pray the answer is yes

I pray that our soldiers today returning from war
Do not stand still to struggle for recognition
Of the sacrifices they have made

May their heroes return
Remain to be just as wonderful as the emotion 
Of stepping off of an airplane to a cheering
Crowd that represents a homeland
That truly realizes that freedom comes
At great sacrifice
 

I dedicate my words this Veterans' Day 2014
To every Warrior that still stands today
To hold title

For their truly is not a 'Once'
In Once A Warrior
 

I salute you for your patriotism
And commend you for your honor


 

Original by Lesa Gay
 aka
Aspiring Angel
 


http://vietnamresearch.com/history/stats.html 

Hostile deaths: 47,359
Non-hostile deaths: 10,797
Total: 58,156 (including men
formerly classified as MIA and
Mayaguez casualties).

Highest state death rate: West Virginia--84.1.
(The national average death rate for males in 1970 was 58.9 per 100,000).

WIA: 303,704 - 153,329 required hospitalization,
50,375 who did not.

Severely disabled: 75,000, 23,214 were classified 100% disabled.
5,283 lost limbs, 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher
than in WWII and 70% higher than in Korea. Multiple amputations occurred
at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in WWII.

MIA: 2,338 POW: 766, of whom 114 died in captivity.

Draftees vs. volunteers:

25% (648,500) of total forces in country
were draftees.

(66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII)
Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.

Reservists KIA: 5,977 National Guard:
6,140 served; 101 died
 



 









Comment On This Poem --- Vote for this poem
Once A Warrior