Alwaysawarrior

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WE NEVER THOUGHT OUR OWN SIDE WOULD KILL US IN VIETNAM

Some days my neuropathy gets the better of me
It can create such excruciating pain in my arms
But even far worse is the damage done to my legs

There are days when I can't hardly stand up at all
And even when I can I only walk for short distances
I'll use those electric shopping carts at the store

It's the only way that I can travel the distance
As my legs would give out on me before isle #2
Thank God the stores started using these carts

At least this way I can get out and around some
My wheel chair chariot hasn't worked out to well
It's hard for me to to use it with the neuropathy

My hands and arms become too numb for me to use it
So my wife must push my black chariot all around
But this is not the way that I wanted it to be

Seems that the Veterans Administration has rules
One being that you must use a wheel chair first
Then after one year they may pay for a scooter

Like those electric Amigo's used in the stores
Only these don't have that bulky basket on them
And they are easier to get around in tight areas

One of these little scooters can change things
I can get some of my freedom back and go places
I could do things with my family and relatives

These little wonder carts are far to expensive
Making it impossible for many families to have
But I hope between Medicare and the VA I will

There have been so many complications I've faced
All thanks to that damn chemical spray they used
To kill off all those jungle plants in Vietnam

That wonderful defoliant they called Agent Orange
Brought to us in Vietnam by the wizards at DuPont
Whose motto is "Better Living Through Chemicals"

And here I am 47 years later considered a lucky one
Because those Deadly Dioxins haven't killed me yet
But then there's thousands who weren't this lucky

© Terry Sasek - Alwaysawarrior - all rights reserved.

Some days I have a very hard time trying to type out these poems
that I write about my fellow warriors, this one alone has taken
me about an hour and a half already to type as my fingers and my
hands get so damn numb that they are almost useless at times. But
then too as long as I am able to, I'll pay honor and my respects
to all those who have given everything including their lives just
to defend freedom and to those who are like myself who still get
up every single day and thank God that we have survived our time
in the war and regardless of all of the inconveniences caused by
our own heavy exposure to the Agent Orange produced by chemical
companies like DuPont, Monsanto and many other chemical giants
who have become very wealthy from all the profits they made from
these chemicals that had resulted in our own agonies that we who
were heavily exposed must endure and try to live with every day
until one day when we too will become just another statistic in
that deadly war. I guess we just never thought that we would be
killed by our own side there when we had been more worried about
those little VC guys in the black pajamas and the soldiers from
North Vietnam. I myself will never forget my brother warriors!

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WE NEVER THOUGHT OUR OWN SIDE WOULD KILL US IN VIETNAM