Agent Orange Pain

by Mary Rogers

They did their time and gave their all
They watched so many brothers fall
They boarded the freedom bird that day
And knew they were lucky to walk away

Their brothers paid the ultimate price
They sacrificed all, they gave their life
Remembered forever in their brothers mind
Where they remain immortalized in time

But the men that came home didn’t know
The same price would be paid, but very slow
Walking dead men boarded that plane
Dying a death from agent orange rain

Our country knew what the poison would do
When over those men the airplanes flew
And spewed its contents all around
It covered the men and permeated the ground

The health care promised was not for them,
Our government denied them again and again
They waited for many of them to fall
Those brave men who answered their countries call

They didn’t know coming home that day
They were dying from lethal agent orange spray
Our heroes and loved ones who our country denied
And continued to stand by the ultimate lie

Our husbands, fathers, brothers, and friends
One after the other their lives came to an end
Now there are tears that fall to the ground
Like the agent orange rain that brought them down

They were betrayed and so were we
By our own country, the land of the free
Vietnam killed so many who survived
Not in battle but from the agent orange lie

Agent orange widows and orphans left behind
We hold their memories in our hearts and minds
Our efforts to save them were in vain
Now we are dying from agent orange pain

Mary Rogers
05/03/07