She Didn’t Want to Play

by Wayne Gaskins

At the battle of Hamburger Hill
A NVA ambush almost got us killed
The Angel of Death didn’t take any of us away
But she left some wounded, for another day

A snake along the trail and a Lieutenant’s ambition
Almost cost all our lives and the success of our mission
None of us should have lived that day
I guess the Angel of Death didn’t want to play

We were not supposed to be detected in any way
Calling in Fire Missions was the game plan of the day
He believed that battles could win him a promotion
He wanted a fire fight so he caused a commotion

The snake he shot that he found along the trail
Would start a chain of events we all knew too well
The NVA set an L shaped ambush just up ahead
With-in a few hundred yards we all should be dead

The trap was set, there was no excuse for it to fail
What went wrong, no one could tell
Why we all lived, I can not say
Except the Angel of Death just didn’t want to play.

Wayne Gaskins
3/18/2002