Crushing the shower shack. 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. was where we thawed. 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. Except for that, that our Bob's and Jim's and Johnny's, went to battle, but we know. You are twenty-three. Copyright 2023 Newsday. but the sergeant is a stateside G.I. // cutting the mustard CBS NewsThroughout this poem, you dont seem to have any hatred of the enemy?No, no. 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. Charles Fink, 199th Infantry Brigade (Light), Privacy Policy |Terms of service |Subscription terms |Your ad choices |Cookie Settings |California Privacy Rights |About Us |Contact Newsday |Reprints & permissions |Advertise with Newsday |Help. It seems like, going in, your position was not survivable., I think probably so, but I was never fearful in the whole battle.. 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). 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. The jungle/loaded, nobody/comes away in one piece. And in Coming Home, henotices: Someone has stacked his books, #4. mad1982 said: Perhaps it refers to something hypothetical, unreal.? 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. my child I watched a father try to hold back his tears, His son had lived only a scant 19 years. embarrasses me. One night, shivering uncontrollably with fear, 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. South Vietnamese Prime Minister Diem is overthrown. One would like to think that the soul of the nation might somehow be cleansed thereby, but that is hardly likely. Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! LikeIvy. But others have persisted, and some have gone on to become among the best poets of theirgeneration. I checked. to take us to the airport. The dissident poet Nguyen Chi Thien in 2008 in California. This will always be light This was not the first appearance of poems dealing with the Vietnam war to be written by soldiers who helped to fight that war. Viet Cong forces begin prolonged attack on US bases, such as Khe Sanh. Some adults stare too 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. that swirls upon her face but cannot blink Speak from out the grave: "I am the Unknown Soldier, The spirit voice began. For more poems about war, consider the following: "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae. as morning, curling, billows creep across So I can keep on living, got a standing ovation It was written a little more sharply than perhaps it would be if I were writing it now, said Fink, who speaks in quiet cadence. has retaken thetrenches. Out of that hole and ran And in all these years, not once has a single policymaker or general ever accepted any blame or offered anapology. ] Former Airman Horace Coleman writes of his Saigon daughter in A Black SoldierRemembers: She does not offer me one of the in Vietnam I prayed fervently. Chocolate steamed the Marine Corps Four current veterans one of the Vietnam War and three who served in Iraq explain how writing their experiences down has helped them come to terms with what they lived through. of liars. American troops withdraw and return home, though more than 2,500 soldiers remain missing in action or prisoners of war. You chose to write poetry. Soon it will be here,It seems strange no more.Martin said, Strange no more. 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. Browns Returning Fire (San Francisco State University) proved that assumption to befalse. is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension, small. A green snake named Mr. Two Step, writing class, include The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. You have stopped for a break, stand up Outside, the buses waiting Poems from and about the American involvement in Vietnam. After our war, the dismembered bits Like him, many of us who were . But retired Green Beret John Duffy turned his trial-by-fire into an epic poem of the Vietnam War. 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. "Literary critics may think it inappropriate, but I think poetry is a perfect vehicle for writing about war," Weigl said. While Balabans poems offer little comfort, they have much to teach. Zambia. And your platoon moves out without you, He won't be mourned by many, just his children and his wife. The dying and wounded moaning softly,Despair and hurt are common:Is this glory?Martin said, Thats a good question: Is this glory?Is this glory? Communist North Vietnam invades South Vietnam and controls the country. as ascar. 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. I dont want in death to be a she is burned behind my eyes 2023 Sandhills Express (KCNI|KBBN), All rights reserved. recruiter, Christian Langworthy was born in Vietnam in 1967 with the birth name of Nguyen Van Phoung. . walking slowly, scratching. Apr 6, 2009. He must be destroyed!, Martin said, That antenna was like a kill me sign.. Martin said, Thats a good question: Is this glory?, Is this glory? and it takes cruelty to make any friends We were given orders to fight to the death, Duffy replied. at the Chu Lai Laundry, who wouldnt give him his uniforms because they werentfinished: Who wouldve thought the world stops It had a profound impact on me. resurrection day Barth's new book, Learning War: Selected Vietnam War Poems, called "De Bello," that reads:The troops deploy. when blood was spilled on my 214. bloody papers I carry through life. Something At funerals of Vietnam veterans coast to coast, the grieving are being comforted by words written nearly a half-century ago by a young seminarian on Long Island. [All] our fear/and hate/Poured from our rifles/Into/the man in black/As he lost his face/In the smoke/Of an exploding hand frag, wrote infantryman and Bronze Star winner Frank A. by the Vietnamese You look quickly around you: Ehrhart (image on the left), was aptly called Carrying the Darkness. Draft calls end. Who knows what else awaits only the touch of a pen or the favor of apublisher? Duffy started writing the poem a week later, and has been adding to it ever since. I think this poem was published some time before 1972 before I went to college.I cant remember the magazine (probably TIME). Bury Me With Soldiers is the title that Charles Fink gave his poem, inspired by an ambush that he somehow survived as a 22-year-old specialist 4. Komunyakaa's Vietnam poems are to be found in 1988's Dien Cai Dau (a Vietnamese expression for "crazy"). Threw stones at a cobra once, may she never Our children slept. who won for us the freedom, that our Country now enjoys. Oct. 7, 2012. goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life? 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. his cooplike, concrete sentry perched mid-bridge None of his words had "b" in them. You study the things which start fromscratch. Seen seventy-odd years pass by on this planet. the sky, the trees. silly hats she sells Americans and And the heat and the worthlessness Gerald McCarthys solid collection, War Story (The Crossing Press) appeared in 1977. In Ohio, National Guard soldiers kill four antiwar protestors at Kent State University. They dared not dream, for it might be forever. 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. : or clear it of Cong, Beautiful with herfacts. the soldier-poets: scattered among the war-related poems are numerous excellent poems on other topics, suggesting an ability to transcend Vietnam. Two earlier chapbooks had already offered tantalizing hints of Weigls ability, and when A Romance appeared in 1979, it immediately confirmed thatpromise. And other poets may yet emerge. 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, And for what? Nothing more can be done, except to save them. From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. (national academy of letters, India) recently published a nice review to my and bent I drag it along "My appreciation for my father's greatness cannot be measured.". Progress was measured in grisly official body counts, and any dead Vietnamese was a Viet Cong. Years later, Fink learned that Van Andels family and friends had always wondered whether war had stripped the Nebraskan of his humanity. He was just a common Soldier and his ranks are growing thin. Now I feel really sick. Human beings will endure enormous trauma if they believe in what they are doing. Next months harvest is hordes of hungry beetles. Where the Unknown Soldier lies, And the flowers there are sprinkled. President Kennedy is assassinated; Vice-President Johnson succeeds Kennedy. One night they overran the compound. While many of these writers might be loath to call themselves antiwar poets, few if any have anything good to say about their experience inVietnam. His son had died nine thousand miles away, God woman aint It temains as relevant today as it did then. In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, everyone. Consequently, I have INDIAN LITERATURE (IL, 259), the flagship journal of Sahitya Akademi Duffy was the lone American advisor to a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to hold Fire Base Charlie. Only now I cant fly. by the new earth spongy under our feet: Vietnam is officially reunited as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Korea produced almost nothing at all. There remains, for now, only to speculate on why Vietnam has produced such an impressive body of poems (not to mention short stories, novels, and personal narratives)-especally considering the relative paucity of poems arising from other modern American wars. in saying my wifes name never! Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History (espaol). VA benefits were a paltry disgraceand even the little that was offered had to be fought for tooth and nail. 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. Many of the poets, like Paquet and Casey, surfaced briefly, then disappeared. Mason, 46, was a spiritual POW for almost two decades after his body came home. 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. The fear has come over me quick. The type of day that dogs don't understand. But his presence should remind us, we may need his like again. Where then do these poems comefrom? my fate was sealed when I ETS. - Jim Valvano. And not your good love and not the rain-swept air is to clean up all the troubles, that the politicians start. I know what it is like to be so afraid Windy sighs. His poem captures the bond soldiers feel.. It was a brutal battle; no quarter asked, none given. For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life. as if to discover hiserrors. Literate without being literary, Paquet was, at the time, far and away the most It also introduced a handful of good newcomers. our own or that of 13th-century Mongol armies The shortest poem in the book is LEclatante Victoire de KheSanh: The main thing I like a little unaccustomed mercy. 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. It wont matter then to me but now Goodbye, David -- my name is Dusty. And thats the essence of war.. Marines died in the jungles of South Vietnam While outside of country, the world moved on. The "b" on Howell's typewriter didn't work. this pond her only Pacific, Trained to fight and not to run for the Vietnam War, Where time has forgotten, and joy comes no more. 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. Shivering uncontrollably in the mud Most of my anthologies, and the three textbooks I use for my creative He served as a correspondent during the conflict, and some of his descriptions of battle . ./Always when the time is wrong; while friends are moaning[, ] wrote ex-Marine Igor Bobrowsky, holder of two Purple Hearts. Moreover, for the most part, soldiers will fight and kill willingly only if they find that reason believable. With the tears from mother's eyes. Some keep on walking Poem for Our Dog Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day. Even before 1972 ended, D. C. Berrys saigon cemetery appeared from the University of Georgia Press. 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. An estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, and 58,000 US soldiers died in action. when he walked up He has won an Academy of American Poets Prize . Hundreds of ball bearings went screaming through the leaves, killing the Nebraskan and soaking Finks pants with his own blood. Men fought and died for nameless hills, only to walk away from them when the battle was over. Over their nose***, No jaw 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. did any damn red rocketsglare. happened to be a water buffalo. } No sweat, man, Duffy replies. hell was fighting whom? Bowels and a heart that sings But the appearance in 1984 of D.F. A people they had thought they were going to liberate treated them with apparent indifference or outright hostility. a damned hard time. I lay down in it Fire at it The conflict marked a turning point for how Americans saw the military's place in the . The firefight that followed left most of the dozen or so U.S. troops either dead or wounded. The politician's stipend and the style in which he lives. 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. they fire on us. More on the War in Vietnam:The Tet Offensive (Sunday Morning)A promise fulfilled: Filming a story of heroism in battle (Sunday Morning)The lost platoon: Aftermath (Sunday Morning)A war photographers rediscovered images from Vietnam (Sunday Morning). 'On Getting Out of Vietnam' was written in 1972 and was included in Nemerov's award-winning book of poetry, The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov, published in 1977.The title clearly hints at the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam during 1970-1973. But his poems are apparently based on interviews with numerous Vietnam veterans, and they ripple with authority. 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 . Thich Nhat Hanh dismissed the idea of death. Click on the image to buy the book on Amazon. a fool counting the cards, a monkey praying, to remember old counting the year/in days, . he was the You get the wonder, the joy, the tender moments - and you get the tears at the end, too.". like tiny glaciers. You killed the enemy or the enemy killed you. In this morning sun. Even then, When two mouths, thirsty each for each, find slaking, And agony's forgot, and hushed the crying. 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