Vietnam War Poems | Examples
These Vietnam War poems are examples of War poems about Vietnam. These are the best examples of War Vietnam poems written by international poets.
The Vietnam War was on the news when I was in high school
The ones who got sent over to be fodder were from poor counties
Sons of congressmen and senators were not drafted
But other men were readily plucked up and sent over
To morbidly hot jungles full of mosquitos and the enemy
More got blown up or killed than came home intact
If they went over as an officer, they were killed by their own men
Usually in eight minutes
Why? Because if there is no officer to lead, you do not have to fight
Many of these young men were not fighters, they did not want to be soldiers
They had been involuntarily drafted, with little training
If they lasted one year, they could return. Most did not make it.
Vietnam was as brutal as any war
we were up against an unwinnable situation
finding a place, we felt comfortable or safe was rare
one day my pal Gummy and I discovered a deserted cove
It was the one place we did not see jungle
did not feel enemies’ eyes on us
did not worry about the sound of a gun
I will never forget that hour
the one time in Vietnam I did not feel fear
or anticipate my imminent death
January 27, 1973
I was sitting in the barracks
yelling and screaming echoed through the halls
sirens blaring, horns blowing, fireworks popping;
the war was over
When the Allies won WW Two
Who dared say boo
From 1948 to '73, Israel won four wars
Her brave civilian-soldiers rightly admired too
When America bailed out of Vietnam
It paved the way for her disgraceful exit from Afghanistan
Though war may be the last resort
once in, fight to win ~ never abort
The green fields in which we young ran
in summers long past, oh so sweet;
those honeyed days so better than
today’s rank forests of deceit.
Crystal lakes in which we young swam
in naked innocence and love;
the years before war, Vietnam,
when we could free the world’s peace dove.
Blue clear skies in which we young flew
on wings of canvas and of hope
we did not know what they all knew;
life is just one slippery slope.
Chet grabbed my story and claimed it as his own.
Tacking on a slightly different ending.
I kept my mouth shut about this.
War has obliterated his own stories.
PTSD dangles him in a state of web-like anxiety.
If claiming my stories makes him happy, then great.
I am glad to be of service to this Vietnam War vet.
The World That is Located in the Sky
David J Walker
Witnesses all
To the fall of Saigon
In 75
And after all
Was lost or won
What we Though
we saw
Was not at all
What we had Seen\or Said/or Done
The monsoon rains would
Again come
And nurture the ferns and palms
Of the poisoned jungle
The rice paddies plowed by
Tractorized buffalo
The noisy flow
of traffic
On Tu Do Street,
Paved by elite
shoppers
Of freedom
At a terrible cost
The souls lost
Across the battlefields
Sell their dog tags
For passage into
Troi - thuong gioi
The world that is located in the sky
Over Vietnam
condemned
died
reprimand
cried
government war
cease fire
democracy whore
more black men dying, dire
body bags
LSD
citizens cried for our guys, to be free
end this conflict please
Liberty
supposed to train oppress to be
armed to protect their liberty
the opposed then set free
Oh! So complex world South Vietnam
Condemned world conflict
60,000 Souls died
indigenous fortress
communist reprimand military conflict
Cries
started in 1955
stop prevent spread
of Communism
throughout all of Southeast Asia
Sound the alarm
End the war in Vietnam
9/5/74
Written by James Edward Lee ©1974, 2021
she holds old photos
saved of husband's other life
while in the navy
Vietnam fifteen-year tour
never looked back with regret
5/31/2021
swathe in red, white, blue
white rose buds, baby's breath quilt
soldier's coffin
old Vietnam veteran
recalls others the heroes
5/31/2021
When I think of soldiers fallen in defense of our country
To the Revolutionary War, my thoughts make their way
Musket-toting volunteers from near and far
To form a new nation, their guiding star...
My heart goes out to the Civil War's slain
To preserve the Union, from Maine and Michigan
they came
Falling in droves at Gettysburg and Shiloh
God's grace in each place too late bestowed...
WW1, WW2, Wars in Korea and Vietnam
All tested the courage of the toughest of men
Not to forget those who fell in Iraq and Afghanistan
Seem's the nation's wars stretch end-to-end...
And these maudlin words of mine on Memorial Day
Won't raise up the fallen, or their widows repay
(Another way of looking at life... poem)
Stacking bricks in a builder’s yard
I was just eighteen, while my mate
was in Vietnam.
I was building for the future,
he was trying to lay the foundations.
© Harry J Horsman 2020
Yes death was an awakening
We did not realize we carried it with us
Until our smiles were wiped clean
And the laughter had stopped
It did not take long.
Vietnam was life game changer
We had been thrust into jungles
As GI Joe’s, ready to kick some butt
Instead, we were the ones being kicked.
As trigger explosions were going off and our friends were dying
We realized that death was waking us up
Begging for our full attention which we gave
For there is nothing like the horrors of war
To shake an eighteen-year-old out of his cocoon of innocence
To take his invincible attitude and twist it behind his back.
War is hell and death is the rude awakener
viet nam is happening
his leg is gone
i am sorry i say
and thank you
for your sacrifice
it is not enough
but it is all i have
bell bottom blue jeans
warm belly button showing
nineteen seventies
woodstock mad music
vietnam war in full swing
youth rebelling now
free love is rampant
people living in communes
churches pray like mad
usa magic
separation of our youth
from solid parents
after kennedy
dr martin luther king
turned country wild
youth were change ready
probably the soldiers too
holding breath in swamps
nineteen seventies
color tv was alive
sonny and cher show
assertive women
wait patiently in the wings
for the eighties turn