Memories of a Green Beret

Memories of a Green Beret “Where have all the soldiers gone, Long time passing, Where have all the soldiers gone, Long long time ago, Where have all the soldiers gone, Gone to graveyards, every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?" (an old anti-war folk song from the 60's) Ho Chi Mihn Trail....'68 Ten warriors camouflaged in wait Prepared to deal a grisly fate Hunkered down in jungled hell Assured they've set the ambush well. In silence they lay upon the route When 'Charles' walks in…. he won't walk out. A cacophony of fire and screams Laid down with deadly skills, this team; With claymore mines and booby traps Left fifteen fragged and torn or zapped. A trail once quiet, now instead, Was piled with black pajama'ed dead A kill zone full of empty life, From M16 and combat knives. Metallic smells of blood and gore…. Back to the bush, fear to the core; On the run, escape, evade This area where the trap was laid. Bust thru brush at breakneck speed Thru swamp and bramble, cutting reeds. They're on your ass, their voices near Being captured is your highest fear. If you're caught you won't survive. They'll disembowel you, flayed alive. Your final screams, heard near and far, The price you pay for what you are. In time you finally get away, But it was the VC's judgment day Praise God we lived, is what you pray. Old memories of a Green Beret As on and on this game of chess, Your mind starts crumbling with the stress. More bloody trails and bloody hunts And soon gone thirteen bloody months. You pack for home and say a prayer For those you know that's still back there. The sights and smells flash on and on Though fifty years have come and gone. They steal your brain and steal your calm Sometimes you think you're back in 'Nam. And still today played o'er and o'er Are vivid flashbacks of the war: Young warrior's lives, gone much too soon Dying moans and pumping wounds Flashing guns in hot fire fights In wet and frigid jungle nights. Camps attacked in human waves Death piled high in bulldozed graves Fear like ice picks in your brain Comes with horrid scenes and pain Prisoners tossed from chopper flights Blood smeared chaplains give last rites Green bags filled with body parts Images not for faint of heart Fear that drives you up the wall Soothed by weed and alcohol Village kids all blown apart Blood and guts served 'a la carte ' Air support with steel and flames Dog tag heaps with buddies names Rot gut beer, Saigon whores Seeping rotten jungle sores Now, most are gone, long died away. While others here are silver gray Their comrades gone, now mostly dead, They fight the fight still, in their heads Late of night, in sleep they shout. "Medic here, he's bleeding out. Call in support--lay down some fire, God help us all, they're in the wire." I pen these words and I decree They were ten times best what I could be. My praise and prayers I'll not detract For the many who never made it back. From long ago and far away........ These memories of an old Green Beret Author's Note: to all my old comrades, MANY WHOM never made it back ...De Oppresso Leber....rest in peace old friends-- Sergeant First Class Frederick Moore , 6th SF, 7th SF, and 46th SF Thailand......