Along with Virgil Suarez and Victor Hernandez Cruz, Quintana co-editedPaper Dance: 55 Latino Poets. The contrast is even more remarkable when one considers how very few members of the Vietnam Generation ever actually But the explanations given by those whod sent the soldiers to fight in Vietnam became ever more surreal and absurd until they were revealed for what they were: nothing but empty words, bereft of reason or any semblance of higher moralauthority. After being met with years of protest, demonstrations, and activism, including the objections of many notable poets and artists, such as Denise Levertov, Allen Ginsberg, and W.S. Then the village No sweat, man, Duffy replies. Browns Returning Fire (San Francisco State University) proved that assumption to befalse. Editor: Ed Givnish. And other poets may yet emerge. as men whose duty it was to kill me filed by. falling in slowmotion[.]. I wanted to paint the picture of the action and a panorama of the combat there, he replied. In addition, we included selections of articles, audio resources, and online databases to further provide context for these important works of empowerment, heroism, and reckoning. Why?. A poem of McDonalds appeared recently in The Atlantic. I do this under the biggest tree, 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. Maurice DeCaul watched as his battalion's artillery units fired into the city. 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 Edited by three Vietnam veterans working out of a basement kitchen in Brooklyn and published originally through private funding . his cooplike, concrete sentry perched mid-bridge And when soldiers have too much time and too many questions and no answers worthy of the label, they begin to turn inward on their own thoughts where lies the terrible struggle to make sense of the enormity of the crime ofwar. Thich Nhat Hanh dismissed the idea of death. McDonald, like Balaban, is anomalous, but for different reasons: he was a career Air Force officer and pilot, his age closer to those who planned the war than to most of those who fought it. ***. Somewhere over there was once your home. When a loved one doesn't return from war there will be many unresolved feelings. But if some of the non-Vietnam poems occasionally reveal the graduate student laboring to flex his intellectual muscle, they also reveal the poets ability to transcend Vietnam and reach out to the wider world aroundhim. You're far from home. what release? is no longer yours. In following years, thousands of Vietnamese immigrate to the United States. God Seen seventy-odd years pass by on this planet. What else can we do? Nixon is elected president and begins bombing Communist bases on the Cambodian border. Pasture unfolding before us can denyit. The Medal of Honors and Air strikes, code-named Operation Rolling Thunder, begin in North Vietnam. Albuquerque High School, 1962. They had grown up in the shadow of their fathers generation, the men who had fought the good war from 1941 to 1945. One would like to think that the soul of the nation might somehow be cleansed thereby, but that is hardly likely. We landed at Ft. Lewis, Neither Paquet nor Casey ever published any additional poetry, to my knowledge, after 1972. by this dazzle that does not wish to leave us for popping a loud-mouth punk in the choppers. He credits the bravery of Van Andel, the young squad leader, with spurring him to push for a memorial. women and kids in shacks and said proudly At her. Weigl, in fact, seems unwillingby design or by default, one cannot tellto confront the war directly, relying time and again on dreams, illusions and surreality. I had read it when it was first published in 1996 and it has stuck with me, as has the utterly savage U.S. war against Vietnam that killed so many millions, what the Vietnamese call The American War. He died doing what he felt was right. And the initial rejection of Vietnam veterans, and the long silence of the 70s which followed (during which time Vietnam veterans were routinely stereotyped as drug-crazed, emotionally unbalanced misfits), have only given way to Rambo, Chuck Norris, and the sorry spectacle of Americas Vietnam veterans driven to build monuments to themselves and throw parades in their ownhonor. Never hear the horrible Edited by three Vietnam veterans working out of a basement kitchen in Brooklyn and published originally through private funding, it contained 109 poems by the editors and 30 fellow veterans. Speak from out the grave: "I am the Unknown Soldier, The spirit voice began. . Where the Unknown Soldier lies, And the flowers there are sprinkled. The conflict marked a turning point for how Americans saw the militarys place in the world. but the sergeant is a stateside G.I. The antiwar rhetoric really hit home with Fink after he heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary. that we will be keepers of a garden,nonetheless. They came in hissing, 4) We were all clerks of various sorts. Its called The Battle for Charlie,' the name of a fire base blocking the North Vietnamese invasion route into the central highlands at the start of their 1972 Easter offensive. Above the stinking jungle and her pain embarrasses me. Also a trained anthropologist, Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms. Be brave my comrades. Woman in the Woods - I think you just managed to inspire me to write a poem about war from a Marine Moms perspective. American troops withdraw and return home, though more than 2,500 soldiers remain missing in action or prisoners of war. Your poem gives a strong voice for those affected by war. ***. 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. the sky, the trees. . and the VC would know our position. More than transcending Vietnam, in Blue Mountain Balaban absorbs Vietnam and incorporates it into a powerful vision of what the world ought tobe. Today, the poem is read at the funerals of . the cries and screams I heard so loud. as if to discover hiserrors. In a tight sequence of poems, the persona he creates bids goodbye to his family, does his time in Vietnam, and comes home. Viet Cong forces begin prolonged attack on US bases, such as Khe Sanh. 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. I never mention But retired Green Beret John Duffy turned his trial-by-fire into an epic poem of the Vietnam War. in Asia. "A Vietnam Vet at The Wall" and ""He Was a Vietnam Vet" by Susan Raye White "A Soldier's Pledge" by Lynn Hughes "Bob" by Lt. William P. Brandt, Forward Observer, Vietnam "The Wounded Are The Lucky" by Rikki Duncan "I Can't Come Home" by M.L.Carte "Perspective of the Vietnam Memorial" by Judy/T. However, I must make it clear that, while I served during the war/conflict, I was a chaplain's assistant and never went to Vietnam. tells you you're on a new trail, we called forjets. On a rain-soaked day such as this. W. D. Ehrhart, a former Marine sergeant and veteran of the Vietnam War, holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Wales, where he did his dissertation on American poetry of the Korean War. Quintana is on the English faculty at Mesa College, San Diego. The type of day that dogs don't understand. After the Navy, The battle raged back and forth. Only six of these 34 poems, in fact, deal with Vietnam, two others referring to the war in passing. The ambush that inspired Fink also inspired another member of the patrol, a mortar man named Jan Scuggs, who had been assigned to the squad that day because it had been short a rifleman. never! The shortest poem in the book is LEclatante Victoire de KheSanh: The main thing I remember a flower, You killed the enemy or the enemy killed you. This months harvest is tall green rice. Target him! CBS News national security correspondent David Martin asked Duffy, Lots of soldiers have written memoirs about their time in combat. Or the ordinary fellow, who in times of war and strife. Zambia. Im sure of the children, knowing I would have to kill whatever was out there, School children walk by, he writes in OnDeath: Some stare and ducks that others feed. Some adults stare too Next months harvest is hordes of hungry beetles. South Vietnamese government falls. #4. mad1982 said: Perhaps it refers to something hypothetical, unreal.? Some of the poems are as short asGuns: When the M-16 rifle had a stoppage, Communist North Vietnam invades South Vietnam and controls the country. then at least let's give him homage, at the ending of his days. Casey, a former military policeman, works exclusively with the truncated matter-of-fact speech rhythms that mirror the Vietnam grunts favorite phrase: There it isno further explanation offered. His son had died nine thousand miles away, Click on the image to buy the book on Amazon. During the last years of the war, when the inevitable outcome was becoming increasingly apparent to everyone involved, the best journalists covering Vietnam shifted their attention from day-to-day stories to reflect on larger themes that attempted to explain what had actually happened and why. Copyright 2023 The Virginia Quarterly Review. safe at home damn, But he chose to do his alternative service in Vietnam, first as a teacher of linguistics at the University of Can Tho, then as field representative for the Committee of Responsibility to Save War-Injured Children. Thank you for taking the time to enter the contest and sharing your poem with us. You have been followed. Cross, Jr. I hate you/with your yellow wrinkled skin, /and slanted eyes, your toothless grin. It is inscribed inaccurately on a memorial stone at the Northport VA Medical Center. To see dead bodies on the ground. A plane that was to take MacMurray had showered ten minutes before. ' One night, shivering uncontrollably with fear, gouged lips, odd tibias, skin flaps, and toes No, it was a combat, said Duffy.Major John J. Duffy served in special operations groups, often behind enemy lines, during four combat tours in Vietnam. It is as if time has finally allowed Weigl to accept the emotions buried in the subconscious and the implications of what he has done and been a part of. Republishing, rebroadcasting, rewriting, redistributing prohibited. Dedicated their Courage and Time to a Cause. on a rain-soaked day such as this. that swirls upon her face but cannot blink The poems are copyrighted, but can be used for any nonprofit reason with credits. in saying my wifes name It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys. Barth's new book, Learning War: Selected Vietnam War Poems, called "De Bello," that reads:The troops deploy. Even the government turned its back on its soldiers, openly repudiating those who came to protest the war, ignoring those who didnt. Martin said, Thats a good question: Is this glory?, Is this glory? The penis in the air Then, he sums up his own career, starting as a 17-year-old private and ending as a major with four combat tours.I guess I did well:Not having gone to Hell. Its not Shakespeare, he said, but it says simply and directly what most military people, especially those who served in combat, feel about fellow soldiers.. Even worse, Americas veterans could not even crawl away to lick their wounds in peace. In a recording, Duffy (call sign: Dusty Cyanide) talks to the aircraft coming to his rescue. Surely it has to do with the peculiar nature of the war itself. 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. document.documentElement.className += 'js'; served in Vietnam in any capacity at all. The audience applauded after she characterized those who fought in Vietnam as moral transgressors. It had been 21 years since Jan Barry first went to Vietnam, and even the youngest of the vets were approaching their mid-30s. by the minnows flash, the tremble of a breast, 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. The battle raged back and forth. Vietnam veteran Yusef Komunyakaa has published excellent poems in recent years in magazines and anthologies, and a collection of his, I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head, is forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press. For more poems about war, consider the following: "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae. Fire at it With handkerchiefs Balaban is an anomaly: a soldier-poet who was not a soldier; indeed, he opposed the war and became a conscientious objector. my rear when they piss about think it forgiven Kill or die is our fate. I dont want in death to be a In remembrance of American involvement in Vietnam, the Poetry Foundation has assembled a selection of poems from our archives that address the conflict and its aftermath. rocks its weight, A woman kneels on deck American troops return home with veterans benefits dramatically reduced since the era of WW II. Danger came from unexpected places. Poetry By David Connolly Thoughts on a Monday Morning Originally written after a memorial service for 59 troopers from the Second Squadron of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment who were killed in action or who died as a result of wounds received when ambushed by an entrenched, numerically superior force while on an operation in the Michelin Rubber Plantations, near the town of Dau Tieng, in . Out of the stomach Every time weve broke out trying to leave here, we got fired upon.One pilot informs him he is low on fuel and has to leave. While Balabans poems offer little comfort, they have much to teach. :-D Thanks a lot! Except for that, Seven winters have slipped away, seems I can not get away. Im staying with you, you need cover,We are a team, we have fought togetherAnd if need be we will die together.That may be the cost of saving our troopers.Deaths moment is near,I can feel its flame. Thank you to all of our Veterans for their service and sacrifices to protect us all. two children eating rice, recruiter, to a corporal, and he did. And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). But the appearance in 1984 of D.F. In In Celebration of Spring, heinsists: Swear by the locust, by dragonflies on ferns, Duffy was the lone American advisor to a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to hold Fire Base Charlie. I will stay with you until you stay with me. Here we are at Vietnam. Vuong's new collection of poetry was inspired by his mother's death from breast cancer. the sad smile she alreadyhas. But behind the myth of the games creation is an untold tale of theft, obsession and corporate double-dealing. Goodbye, David -- my name is Dusty. Progress was measured in grisly official body counts, and any dead Vietnamese was a Viet Cong. Well enough to earn the nations highest honor and live to write poetry about it.President Joe Biden shakes hands with retired U.S. Army Major John J. Duffy, after awarding him the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., July 5, 2022.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images. It had now been nearly eight years since Balaban published After Our War, but he had not been idle. Fink doesnt consider the poem to be great literature, but he hopes it brings some comfort to the more than 7.3 million living veterans who served during the Vietnam War. Idly the thick Rach Binh Thuy slides by. 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. There is no escape. forcing his touchagain. LI priest's poem about Vietnam War endures. . not even in their granddams days Records, souvenirs, pretending Sgt. she is burned behind my eyes - Jim Valvano. VA benefits were a paltry disgraceand even the little that was offered had to be fought for tooth and nail. like tiny glaciers. Papers tell of their life stories, from the time that they were young. To begin with, those who went to Vietnamwell into the late 1960s and contrary to popular perceptionwere largely young volunteers, eager and idealistic. Turning in the war, the tropical heat like hate Oneword. Nguyen Chi Thien, Whose Poems Spoke Truth to Power, From a Cell, Dies at 73. of liars. of poetry that, 15 years later, is still growing. When I did, a state trooper walked up and stood next to me. all his buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke. In the intervening time, he had published two collections of translations: Vietnamese Folk Poetry and the bi-lingual Ca Dao Viet Nam (both from Unicorn, 1974 and 1980 respectively). Finks squad leader, a bespectacled 19-year-old sergeant from Nebraska named Claude Van Andel, noticed how tired Fink was and offered to take his place as the patrols point man a squads most dangerous position. and it takes cruelty to make any friends A second influential anthology of Vietnam War poetry, edited from five thousand submissions by W.D. Then, he sums up his own career, starting as a 17-year-old private and ending as a major with four combat tours. So easily frightened they were perfect warning. Some keep on walking Most of my anthologies, and the three textbooks I use for my creative Kill or die is our fate.It sounds like going in you knew this was a battle to the death, said Martin.We were given orders to fight to the death, Duffy replied.In his poem, Duffy imagines the orders the North Vietnamese commander gave his troops: if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'sandhillsexpress_com-banner-1','ezslot_5',114,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-banner-1-0');The big American with the radio on his back,I want him killed, he is controlling the aircraft.He is attacking our anti-aircraft and artillery guns.He moves often. Wets her face. . the soldier-poets: scattered among the war-related poems are numerous excellent poems on other topics, suggesting an ability to transcend Vietnam. Our children slept. He aims. LikeIvy. Next time I see you I owe you a big bottle of scotch. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_0',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_1',117,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_1');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_2',117,'0','2'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_2');.large-mobile-banner-1-multi-117{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:300px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}Copy that.Of the 471 men committed,I came out after two weeks of intense battlewith 36 surviving,most of them had been wounded.Duffy started writing the poem a week later, and has been adding to it ever since.No one won on Charlie;Each side managed to lose. as morning, curling, billows creep across Castillo, You are probably surrounded. writing class, include The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It was my take on soldiers, as opposed to the one she made.. But for others in the volume, and for Vietnam-related poetry in general, Winning Hearts and Minds proved to be only the forerunner for a body Your wet clothes piled In 2018, he returned home to Hue, in central Vietnam, to live out his last days at the Tu Hieu Temple, where he had become a novice as a teenager. Jean Libby. This is what the war ended up being about, he writes in Corporal Charles Chungtu,U.S.M.C.: we would find a V. C. village, Today, comfort and teaching themselves deceive If youve never been a soldier, you cant understand the bond between guys who, like he says, dont even necessarily like each other, but who are willing to be there for each other, Scruggs, 68, said in a telephone interview from Annapolis, Maryland, where he practices law. His poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. | Privacy, Coyright, Legal Info | Website Developed by Hollman Media, LLC, class="cbs_national-template-default single single-cbs_national postid-2127832 tribe-no-js wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.10.0 vc_responsive". Watch Video: A Medal of Honor recipients epic poem of warIts not often (if ever) a recipient of the Medal of Honor is also a published poet. and if we could not capture it a damned hard time. More durable a poetindeed, one of the very bestis John Balaban. The poems collected here range from mournful elegies to impassioned protests, yet and nearly all struggle with processing the meaning and scope of the conflict. ] Former Airman Horace Coleman writes of his Saigon daughter in A Black SoldierRemembers: She does not offer me one of the A VC moving slowly in the elephant grass We watched he learned to pay much closer watch Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! To a Sacred Place That We All Know Deep In the Shrines of Our Soul: In Our Hearts, In Our Prayers In Our Minds For All Time. *** By Daniel H. Weiss. Public obscenity likethis[.]. as ascar. the fun, our sense of humor did any damn red rocketsglare. It's so easy to forget them, for it is so long ago. was where we thawed. The fear has come over me quick. I have nothing she needs but Korea produced almost nothing at all. In Faraway Places, hewrites: This daughter watching ducks knows I go to a slam once a month here in my neck of the woods and a Vietnam vet shares his experiences which go on and on and on. One hopes for the same from Brown, McCarthy and others. be hes one of the Lords hell was fighting whom? an airfield mortared. I think this poem was published some time before 1972 before I went to college.I cant remember the magazine (probably TIME). Armed Forces Recruitment Day in his last letter home/said in part/they are all rebels here/who will not stand to fight/but each time fade before us/as water into sand[. "Death in the Afternoon, Chapter 16", But I have walked in the face of the moon, I have befouled the waters and tainted the air of a magnificent land, I have flown through the sky faster than the sun, But I had idled in the streets made ugly with traffic, But I have built upon it hundred million homes, But I have built courthouses to keep them free, I have outraged my brothers in alleys and ghettos, I have scribbled out filth and pornography, But I have elevated the philosophy of man. acceptance ofherself. by the new earth spongy under our feet: " The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke. I guess I did well:Not having gone to Hell. The Line Between Innocence and Immorality. Even more chilling is Song of Napalm, in which he tries to appreciate the wonder of horses in a pasture after astorm: Still I close my eyes and see the girl Perhaps because he has come to terms with the worst, he can also now remember with a certain amusement The Girl may she never He served as a correspondent during the conflict, and some of his descriptions of battle . South and Caribbean reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms recruiter, a. There will be keepers of a garden, nonetheless ) talks to the aircraft coming to his rescue action prisoners. Doesn & # x27 ; t return from war there will be many unresolved.... First went to Vietnam, in Blue Mountain Balaban absorbs Vietnam and incorporates it into a powerful of! A new trail, we called forjets feet: & quot ; I am the Unknown Soldier, poem! Return from war there will be many unresolved feelings Operation Rolling Thunder, begin in North Vietnam to... 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More than transcending Vietnam, and any dead Vietnamese was a viet Cong the combat there he. Return from war there will be many unresolved feelings 2,500 soldiers remain missing in action or prisoners war. Under our feet: & quot ; the Soldier & quot ; the Soldier & quot ; in Fields... Souvenirs, pretending Sgt before. Fink after he heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak the... Loved one doesn & # x27 ; s poem about Vietnam war endures Thunder, begin North... Screening in your area. ) stood next to me published after our,... To think that the soul of the war ended up being about, he sums up his own,! In times of war and strife a plane that was to take MacMurray had showered ten minutes.!