Soldier, We Love You

(Jarheads Too)

There were no bands.

Nobody spat on me.

We drove out the gate.

Just Mulliner and me.

I couldn’t cheer.

He had to go back.

Job, college, family.

It didn’t much matter.

I was alive.

I was free.

In Da Nang,

the locals lined the road.

As they did when I landed.

Cheering,

for my replacement.

I would study history.

I would vote.

I would do the things,

dead men cannot do.

Ten years later.

In Da Nang,

the locals lined the road.

As they did when I landed.

Cheering,

for the North Vietnamese.

War sucks!

LDT 30 Aug ‘21

“Soldier, We Love You “ Rita Martinson

 (1432) Soldier, We Love You – YouTube

Epilogue: I got out of the Marines on May 13, 1966. The day before 14 Marines and 1 Navy Corpsman from First Battalion. Ninth Marines were killed in Vietnam. A year earlier, I had had a temporary assignment with 1/9. Semper Fi guys. You are not forgotten.

Thursday, May 12, 1966

EDGARDO CACERES, LCpl, Age 21, Tacoma, WA

JOHN B CAPEL, 2ndLt, Age 23, Glen Ellyn, IL

NEAL A DENNING, Pfc, Age 19, Willow Springs, NC

RALPH G ERDELY, LCpl, Age 21, Springfield, MA

JAMES R HOWELL, Cpl, Age 22, Tucson, AZ

RICHARD W HUNTOON, LCpl, Age 19, Leicester, MA

ROBERT E JONES, Pfc, Age 18, Corona, CA

RONALD H JUSTIS, Pfc, Age 19, Selma, IN

JAMES P LACLEAR, Pfc, Age 19, East Lansing, MI

PEDRO MUNOZ, HN, Age 22, El Paso, TX

WALLACE S PERKINS, Pfc, Age 21, Dallas, TX

MICHAEL R POPPAW, Pfc, Age 19, Dayton, OH

JOHN J SCHULTZ JR, Pfc, Age 19, Harper Woods, MI

TOMMY R WHITE, Pfc, Age 18, Kennett, MO

DALLAS C YOUNG JR, Sgt, Age 24, Salem, IL

Main Menu: http://www.azrockdodger.comEpilogue:

Book Link: https://azrockdodger.com/2021/10/03/the-rhythm-of-my-soul/