Night Patrol

[Steel City Slim]

Night Patrol

The steam rose from the jungle
And cast a mist over the trees
The lieutenant had a head wound
And Shinko had his legs cut off at the knees
The sun came down so hard it hurt
And Snake wondered if he was sane
Stevie called in the casualty report
But the dead did not complain

Last night they left the base camp
On a patrol that was just routine
Ten miles out the small arms started
And the 1-0-5s began to scream
Catman had a sucking chest
The mortars fell like rain
Shouts of "Corpsman" from right and left
But the dead did not complain

With the smell of death in the sunlights gloom
The evac choppers came and went
The patrol is straggling back to camp
From the hell to which it was sent
From far away they will receive the praise
That will not ease the pain
But not one objection will be raised
Because the dead do not complain

[oneighty]

1. You were Fleet Marines?

Hospital Corpsman?

180

[Steel City Slim]

2. No, I Was Navy

I was an Aviation Ordnanceman.

Once when I was flying somewhere (I forget where from or to) I was seated next to an army guy on his way home from Vietnam, and we got to talking. His unit had been ambushed and over run, everyone had been killed except for him and two other guys, and they were so badly fucked up the NVA thought they were dead too. The next morning the US Army evaced them out and he spent several months in various hospitals. When he was finally able to, he called home. His mother answered the phone and when he identified himself she hung up on him. Needless to so say, this messed up his head. It was eventually straightened out. What had happened was that he had been reported KIA and a body had been shipped to his family (closed casket) which they buried thinking it was him. When he called home, his mother thought it was a crank call.

When the plane landed he asked me if I wanted to go home with him. That really rocked me. Because we both had been to Vietnam he felt more comfortable with someone he had just met than with his family, he was looking for moral support from a stranger for when he met his family. I wasn't able to go with him. Years later when I wrote that poem, his story was the inspiration. I still think of him from time to time and I hope everything worked out for him.

[Droopy]

3. Sad story

And a wonderful poem. It would be cool if your Army friend could see the poem. I think of the horrible times that a lot of people went through with war and I see it happening again for no good reason and it breaks my heart.