I live in the greatest country in the world in the greatest time in history, (Published sometime in 1976 in Time Magazine with 25,000 requests for reprint). Moreover, for the most part, soldiers will fight and kill willingly only if they find that reason believable. Pulling the trigger is all we have. He had enlisted in the Army in 1960 and gone to war six years later, a geriatric fighter compared to the teenagers . speaking French When I did, a state trooper walked up and stood next to me. I try to imagine she runs down the road and wings Confronting the ever-changing role of poetry in American culture, these works address the many ways art can respond to conflict and provide valuable language for confusion, loss, and trauma. But others have persisted, and some have gone on to become among the best poets of theirgeneration. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; Leroy V. Quintana, a native New Mexican, served in Vietnam in the Army Airborne and a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit in 1967-68. destined to live my life with stress. That's what my writings reflect. Cross, Jr. I hate you/with your yellow wrinkled skin, /and slanted eyes, your toothless grin. The American people turned their backs on the war long before it ended. a reminder of my wartime strife. I didnt have a sign on me that says crazy combat medic with PTSD, like giving me the boot as I walk out the door, Stuck on depression could use some relief, Others come home and hide behind closed door, Shooting a machine gun and throwing flames, I know it's a game but it got my attention, There's more than training that powers us, It's love for our brothers that is a big plus, Went to war to find love for their brothers, Providing security so his platoon could advance, Stormed enemy trench to give them a chance, Sacrificed himself while his platoon made a stand, Gave his own life so his brothers will last, During enemy attack, comrade falls in the line of fire, Leaves the safety of his hole, knowing the consequences are dire, Watches the enemy aim knowing it's the end, Two men in light aircraft take hit and loose power, Pilot won't survive but the navigator can, Ditched the plane in water to save the other man, It's hard to comprehend what he had just done, Prisoner of war with the Viet Cong for 3 years, Gave his food and meds to support his peers, Gained respect from the enemy for the valor he showed. Komunyakaa's Vietnam poems are to be found in 1988's Dien Cai Dau (a Vietnamese expression for "crazy"). He is author of 14 books of prose and poetry, and editor or coeditor of four anthologies, and has been publishing regularly in VQR since 1980. By the time United States troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973, the Vietnam War had become one of the longest, most controversial conflicts in American history. "Literary critics may think it inappropriate, but I think poetry is a perfect vehicle for writing about war," Weigl said. Why?! He didn't die because he was sick, or he didn't die because he was in a wreck. You have been followed. may she never I don't think I like war anymore. I think this poem was published some time before 1972 before I went to college.I cant remember the magazine (probably TIME). by the Vietnamese But the appearance in 1984 of D.F. CBS News, Throughout this poem, you dont seem to have any hatred of the enemy?, No, no. Don't wait to tell the important people in your life how you feel about them, do it right away. And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke. Like him, many of us who were . Again, one finds the particular hallmark of the very best of In Rocket Attack, he first describes the death of a young Vietnamese girl, then criesout: Daughter, oh God, my daughter But it is probably safe to say that no politician or general ever waged war without offering some higher moral reason for doing so. nothing of Vietnam, It is, then, it seems to me, hardly any wonder that so many former soldiers have turned to the solitude of pen and paper. A company of NVAs crashing toward you Christian Langworthy. Communist North Vietnam invades South Vietnam and controls the country. over mid-muddyriver. Or would you want a Soldier, who has sworn to defend. For more poems about war, consider the following: "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae. a rifle, and Deaths moment is near,I can feel its flame. More durable a poetindeed, one of the very bestis John Balaban. No one couldve expected more from them. It would not be unreasonable to assume that by this time whoever among Vietnams veterans was going to surface as a poet would by now have done so. It is my sincere wish that someone will find these heart-felt writings useful. The whir of birds' wings Began as a print journalist and political activist, then became a lecturer of English Literature at a college, later went on to do a job with a private pharmaceutical firm as a successful manager; after retirement began writing columns for the local daily on politics, the economy, social issues and lieterature and the arts; still a politically active person, a voracious reader and writer (paper and pen mostly, currently on the computer, hence this blog). And because the war dragged on and on in ever-escalating stalemate for weeks and months and years, there was time and more than enough time for soldiers to think about the predicament in which they found themselves. "God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children" by Yehuda Amichai. Now I feel really sick. You never know if you'll get the chance again. Men taught to believe that American soldiers handed out candy to kids found themselves killing and being killed by those very kids. This is for Fred-who carried me on his back when I could walk no further. a fool counting the cards, a monkey praying, Who knows what else awaits only the touch of a pen or the favor of apublisher? tight-lipped men tell me the war in Vietnam is over, of poetry that, 15 years later, is still growing. that we will be keepers of a garden,nonetheless. The type of day that dogs don't understand. Strange prospect Duffy was the lone American advisor to a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to hold Fire Base Charlie. But retired Green Beret John Duffy turned his trial-by-fire into an epic poem of the Vietnam War. Navy Crosses on my Face. Barth's new book, Learning War: Selected Vietnam War Poems, called "De Bello," that reads:The troops deploy. In Eating the Forest, he speaks of soldiers/trained to sleep/where the moon sinks/and bring the darkness home[. I grow tired of kissing thedead. Most had been in grade school or junior high school when John F. Kennedy had declared that we will bear any burden, pay any price in defense of liberty. In one particularly striking poem, Interview with a Guy Named Fawkes, U.S. Army, McDonald capturesas well as any young grunt couldthe grinding frustrations of guerrillawar: you tell them this On May 27, 1969, Fink was in the humid jungle countryside east of Saigon. Crushing the shower shack. 2023 Sandhills Express (KCNI|KBBN), All rights reserved. Some, however, stand out more sharply than others. served in Vietnam in any capacity at all. You did a good job. my child Stuck to her dress like jelly, You chose to write poetry. Fink ended up spending a year in Vietnam. . goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life? Bombs so long falling; after falling, I am the last person you will touch. ' In this morning sun. Surely it has to do with the peculiar nature of the war itself. As your mucosity dries on my lips my rear when they piss about the Air Force, and } And not your good love and not the rain-swept air - Jennifer Williamson. In 227 very short and often bleakly humorous poems, Layne traces the life of his fictional Audie Murphy from birth through childhood to enlistment in the Marines, then boot camp, a tour of duty in Vietnamincluding capture by the North Vietnameseand finally home again. writing class, include The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Thich Nhat Hanh dismissed the idea of death. Windy sighs. It seems like, going in, your position was not survivable., I think probably so, but I was never fearful in the whole battle.. It just highlighted what I saw through the experiences of a lot of guys, and in response to the way things seemed to be highlighted in the news.. The Medal of Honors and In his poem, Duffy imagines the orders the North Vietnamese commander gave his troops: "The big American with the radio on his back, I want him killed, he is controlling the aircraft. These are wonderful poems, made more so by their juxtaposition with touchingly beautiful nonwar poems like Snowy Egret and Small Song for Andrew. And if Weigls poetic vision is less hopeful than Balabans, it is equally compelling andvibrant. One night, shivering uncontrollably with fear, Only now I cant fly. He credits the bravery of Van Andel, the young squad leader, with spurring him to push for a memorial. A poet had better keep his mouth shut, he writes in Saying Good-by to Mr. and Mrs. My, Saigon,1972: unless hes found words to comfort and teach. He was just a common Soldier and his ranks are growing thin. Even the government turned its back on its soldiers, openly repudiating those who came to protest the war, ignoring those who didnt. In addition, this collection includes several poems from the September 1972 issue of Poetry magazine, Against the War.. Major John J. Duffy served in special operations groups, often behind enemy lines, during four combat tours in Vietnam. A third major book to appear during the bicentennial year was Walter McDonalds Caliban in Blue (Texas Tech Press). Katie Greeter Team Leader Editor: Ed Givnish. Even then, When two mouths, thirsty each for each, find slaking, And agony's forgot, and hushed the crying. Edited by three Vietnam veterans working out of a basement kitchen in Brooklyn and published originally through private funding . Indeed, of the 36 poems, only ten deal with the war. He held a job and raised a family, quietly going on his way; and the world won't note his passing; 'tho a Soldier died today. Soon it will be here,It seems strange no more. Intestines poured Watch Video: A Medal of Honor recipients epic poem of war, Major John J. Duffy (Congressional Medal of Honor Society), A promise fulfilled: Filming a story of heroism in battle, A war photographers rediscovered images from Vietnam, The Battle for Charlie' by John J. Duffy, in Trade Paperback and eBook formats, available via. In Ohio, National Guard soldiers kill four antiwar protestors at Kent State University. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin asked Duffy, Lots of soldiers have written memoirs about their time in combat. old counting the year/in days, . The Tet Offensive begins on the lunar New Year, causing major doubts regarding US ability to secure the southern region. Substitute Afghanistan for Vietnam and it is current.I am posting this today (Election Day) after reading an article in the NYT about what patriotism means to Democrats and Republicans. It's so easy to forget them, for it is so long ago. - Jim Valvano. An estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, and 58,000 US soldiers died in action. You are probably surrounded. var googletag = googletag || {}; Sgt. " The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke. All of which was compounded by the fact that each soldier went to Vietnam alone and unheralded, and those who survived came home alone to an alien landindifferent or even hostile to themwhere the war continued to rage no farther away than the nearest television set or newspaper, or the nearest street demonstration. South Vietnamese government falls. At her. With the passage of time, Caseys poems seem less substantial than former medic Paquets, but back then they were deemed good enough to earn him the Yale Younger Poets Award, and his collection Obscenities appeared almost simultaneously with Winning Hearts andMinds. Marines died in the jungles of South Vietnam While outside of country, the world moved on. I remember a flower, More than transcending Vietnam, in Blue Mountain Balaban absorbs Vietnam and incorporates it into a powerful vision of what the world ought tobe. "You don't want to let go . . pity youMartha!. 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