JWS
0500 stand-too
Then off we go to our rendezvous
Expected RV around seven hundred hours
A walk in the 'J' - to smell the flowers
Five hours later we're still out walking
Who went wrong? Everyone's talking
Two Section was that you out front?
I guess you have to bear the brunt
Stop for lunch, off with the pack
A quick brew and a light snack
Remember the date loaf Wattie's make
That was it My birthday cake
Stop on high ground and shoot a bearing
What a day and still people swearing
Late afternoon, we hear a sound..
One more gully? One more mound?
Then we find it that old tin mine
What a relief, and not before time
ETA 0700
What a joke, someone had blundered
Back to JWS some 13 hrs late
Most oblivious to the significance of that date
That was my Twenty-first Lost in the 'J'
And Vietnam only days away.
WELCOME TO VIETNAM
Welcome to the place they call Vietnam
Beautiful, rugged, red dirt and tall palms
Evidence of war all around us we see
That guy on the checkpoint, why's he looking at me?
So this is the place they call Vietnam
Gotta keep cool and keep acting calm
Don't want to appear to be scared or afraid
What's that local looking at - has he got a grenade?
Bombed out bridges and barbed wire road blocks
Bullet holes in buildings and rubble and rocks
Wipe away that sweat with a trembling palm
This is - the place they call Vietnam
Take it easy, keep cool, keep the smile on your face
Keep pretending you're glad to be in this place
Keep a grip on that rifle you have in your arms
'cause this is the place they call Vietnam
Is this really the place they call Vietnam
Everyone here has Black Trousers on
I thought only Charlie would be wearing that gear
It seems almost everyone is wearing it here
I can see already there's lots to learn
And local respect you will have to earn
Get used to this country and all her charm
Cause it's home for a year - Nui Dat, Vietnam
nIGHT rituals
Dinner done and its off to the Bar
That's where most of the boys now are
Drinking and singing cracking rude jokes
Same old stories from the same old blokes
Tits, Ollie, Mack and Buster and Ra
Movie goers stear clear of the melee
They just want to relax at the end of their day
Watching the movie "A Fist Full of Dollars"
They scream, they whistle and they holler
Wedge, Tonga, Smithy and Chesty and Smiley
Then there are those who fancy their hand
In Poker, 21 or Slippery Sam
The Gamblers will play til six in the morning
And take all your money without any warning
Nooks, Jellick, Jack Moka and Juju or Sam
To write letters home is where some would run
To the family, relation's or that special someone
Back in the Land of the Long White Cloud
Where "Bring our boys home!" is being shouted out loud.
Arch (Judy) Mike (Christine) and me to my MUM
There are also those I must agree
That for some unknown reason you'd seldom see
'Cos they're all out hobnobbing with the big brass
and playing silly games like "Flaming ------"
Grant, Din-din, Barley, The BOSS and Sinky
These soldiers enjoy the spare time that is theirs
Forgetting the contacts, the shocks and the scares
Our company lines have become a safe place
Where we can relax in our own little space
And do as we do and nobody cares. RPN 21/7/68
damned disgrace
So many friends have now long gone
And still, they continue to move on
And not because they’ve lost the fight
But more because of the Governments plight
It’s all as plain as the nose on your face
What they and DOW did was a damned disgrace
We joined the Army to preserve a Nation
And protect it from harm and devastation
So t’was off to South Vietnam we went
It mattered not where we were sent
To fight against a foe in any place
Yet what they and DOW did was still a disgrace
Nearly forty years on and finally a light
Still quite dim but it may turn bright
With failing health and little security
At last, there may well be some gratuity
So now the Government must accept its place
And rid the nation of the DOW disgrace 19/10/04
Still fighting
Three decades past and only now
Do people understand our plight?
Some denied that it even happened
And others mocked our lifelong fight
The Vietnam Vet continues fighting
The land destroyed, the country bled
And people left amid the fray
Unaware that decades later
They'd still be suffering from "orange" spray
The Vietnam Vet is still fighting
And we the soldiers sent to fight
Came home to face abuse and scorn
Left to continue on our lives
Battling illnesses of "orange" born
The Vietnam Vet goes on fighting
The Politicians will come and go
And as they do our plight they'll hear
But theirs is just a term or so
And then denial will replace their fear
Of the Vietnam Vets persistent fighting
Soldiers deprived of a welcome home
"Agent" sprayed as we did our best
Still suffering daily in health and mind
As we lay our comrades down to rest
The Vietnam Vets will die fighting RPN 1998