Michael Coy Poet Rhyme

Darwin Judges

(30.4.75: the USA abandons its ally, South Vietnam:
Darwin Judge is the last American to die in Saigon)

Don't ever tell me this was dignified.
I never want to hear of heads held high,
of brothers-in-arms, or marching out with pride.
Just take the pain. It's how it was. Don't lie.

On Wednesday April thirtieth, we ran.
We scurried from the post we should defend,
abandoning the flag, the 'wife', the plan.
We scrambled out, and didn't take our friends.

They washed up all around us, thick as kelp.
To linger here was worse than death. They knew.
Whom else but us could they beseech for help?
We climbed aboard without them. Off we flew.

"White Christmas" played bizarrely, over again,
and big white guys with guns backed from the line
where squatted cooks and cleaners, handymen.
Our time had come to go. This was the sign.

We were their only hope. But, on the sly,
(John Wayne we weren't. Not even Dennis Hopper.)
so no-one would wise up, we - Semper Fi -
snuck sheepishly aboard the final chopper.

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CayCay Godwin January 17, 2026 at 11:29 AM Excellent write. McMahon/22, Darwin/19. "Vietnam Victim", my 2nd Soup post & my 9-year old's POV on 1 way the war hurt her when Dad left ('67-'68 Army Quartermaster). At 67 he died b/c he'd developed diabetes which kills if one has been exposed to agent orange. Did he & others die for naught b/c we quit? Would like to feel our presence mattered. No public support, no cheers when soldiers came home. I've read a 1965 start would've made a difference. You were surely VERY young & brave. THANK YOU CayCay Godwin January 17, 2026 at 12:47 PM Dad NEVER, EVER told us that he had been confirmed as exposed. He'd lived with it from 1968-1998 without issue until diabetes. It was his best friend since college that told us after he'd died. THAT's my Dad, he didn't want Mom or his children to be frightened. In the 80s we received a TV Guide with Jane Fonda on the cover and Dad immediately threw it in the trash. Michael Coy January 17, 2026 at 12:26 PM CayCay, I'm delghted and astonished in equal measure. I'll definitely be looking up "Vietnam Victim". I read somewhere that the remaining barrels of Agent Orange were 'stashed' on a Pacific Atoll, called (ironically) Johnson's Reef. Thank you. Michael

Mark Toney November 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM Michael, this is a powerful and brutally honest piece. Your poem’s speaker is haunted by the shame of their retreat at the fall of Saigon, failing to save those who depended on them. Your using “Darwin Judges” in the title suggests that the death of Darwin Judge stands as an unspoken moral judgment on what happened. A Fav poem for me. Michael Coy November 26, 2025 at 5:02 PM Splendid observations, as always, Mark! I'm very lucky to have you reading my work. You really 'get' me. And I'm grateful. Michael