Dak To
Atop a beaucoup hellish hill
inside a searing, dusty
NVA trenched
and tunneled
mortar-riddled outpost
He gets posted for MacArthur
Out of water, no supplies
Six UH medevacs shot down
Trying to get to 2/503
Add to the carnage
Westmoreland’s friendly fire
Blowing away the backup
Turning medics into oxen fodder
In the middle of it all,
during a November chill
– sleep deprived –
Joe Turner tried a nap
while body bags
piled higher right next to him
almost toppled over.
At least they were warm
Dawn on Tuesday rose
permanent in Joe’s memory
Rotting flesh and napalm etched
yet still more hours pass
before his airlift to Support Base 4
Shipped from there to stateside
Trussed and restrained
screaming scenes from Bosch, Lovecraft and Dante
Finally scoped out by
exempted med school interns
The pukes sure knew how
to diagnose Joe’s inability to adapt
“He’s schizophrenic,”
they say
mortar-riddled outpost
He gets posted for MacArthur
Out of water, no supplies
Six UH medevacs shot down
Trying to get to 2/503
Add to the carnage
Westmoreland’s friendly fire
Blowing away the backup
Turning medics into oxen fodder
In the middle of it all,
during a November chill
– sleep deprived –
Joe Turner tried a nap
while body bags
piled higher right next to him
almost toppled over.
At least they were warm
Dawn on Tuesday rose
permanent in Joe’s memory
Rotting flesh and napalm etched
yet still more hours pass
before his airlift to Support Base 4
Shipped from there to stateside
Trussed and restrained
screaming scenes from Bosch, Lovecraft and Dante
Finally scoped out by
exempted med school interns
The pukes sure knew how
to diagnose Joe’s inability to adapt
“He’s schizophrenic,”
they say
End of story.