Uncle Sam’s Tour Guide To Southeast Asia

327th Infantry

by Eric Hollenbeck

No part of this work may be
transmitted in any form by any
means without permission in writing
from the publisher.

Published by The Blue Ox Millworks
# 1 “X” Street, Eureka, CA 95501

First published in 2008.

Produced by Larry J. Rochester
Printed in The United States of America

Preface

Eric Hollenbeck lives and works today not far from
where he was born, in Eureka, California.

He is the founder and director of The Blue Ox Millworks
Historic Park and School For Traditional Arts. A master
woodworker, he excels in working with students from The
Millworks community high school

War Poem One

Well I’d like to tell you boys a tale
‘Bout a logger gone to war
An 18-year-old country kid
As green as the forest floor

First they sent me north to train
Up on the Pacific Coast
Where Doug fir forests reign supreme
Beneath the frozen ghost

Of Mt. Rainier’s towering peak
Wrapped year-round in snow
It was here that a cold like the kiss of death
Would first began to blow

It was here I had a lieutenant say
As we practiced with the M-1
“Well this here rifle’s a weapon boy
We don’t ever call it a gun

“But ‘tween you and me, when I retire
Sometime this coming year
I’m going to buy one from the Army
Because I hold ‘em so dear

“And have it bronzed and mounted on a plaque
And hung on the wall to stay
And throw a bucket of salt water on it
And laugh as it corrodes away”

And here I learned when a man is scared
He seems to lose his head
Like the fellow that had me wake him at night
So that he could pee the bed

In hopes that they would send him home
And tell him he’s unfit
That never seemed to work quite right
They made him sleep in it

So on it went for three long months
Till we finished that first phase
And, home we came for two weeks off
Just like the good ole days

Then I was sent to the bayou
The country outside Shreveport
The Louisiana cypress swamps
An alligator’s resort

I know that this was still the woods
But a different woods to me
Where Spanish moss hangs 20 feet
Off gnarled cypress trees

It was here I began to see new things
Like houses with only three walls
And schools where animals like chickens and pigs
Roamed freely through the halls

Well, I had never seen the likes
And my black friend, Walter Reed,
Finally decided my education
Was truly in dire need

On a Sunday pass we went to town
With Walter doing all the tellin’
First stop at a store, then the courthouse steps
To eat some watermelon

Now California kids don’t know
The finer points of melon eaten’
And that’s what Walter was here to show
And educate this heathen

So he broke that melon on the courthouse steps
In four big jagged parts
“We always cut ours with a knife”
“My Gawd!” was his remark

Then he picked up a piece in his big, black hands
And his eyes took on a shine
And he dove in face first, seeds ‘n all
And ate down to the rind

Well Walter he was raised down here
Must know how this was done
So I dove right in, till down my chin
The juice began to run

All over my pants and down my front
My uniform a mess
I gotta admit the best melon I’ve had
Was there on them courthouse steps

Well, that was a time of innocence
Not knowing what was to come
We laughed and talked of things of life
Next stop would be Vietnam

War Poem Two

I can barely remember the airplane ride
‘Cept it seemed mighty long
And I don’t remember sayn’ a word
On that flight to Vietnam

Nor did I eye the stewardess
As she would sashay by
I was an 18-year-old logger
Scared to death to fly

The airstrip was called Ben Hoa
When the 707 touched ground
Outside the window activity stirred
In every direction we found

They pushed up the stairs ‘n put two Marines
At either side of the door
Now these guys were huge, ‘n I couldn’t figure out
What they could be there for

We stepped out of that nice cool plane
And into that unbearable heat
And suddenly we found we had lost
Control of our legs ‘n feet

But the Marines were there to gather us up
‘N help us along our way
That place wasn’t fit for man or beast
Was my conclusion that very first day

My first two days were like a dream
On this hot and hurried base
My head was low; I didn’t say a word
I was alone in a very strange place

One thing did happen on that very first night
I was out on a short quiet stroll
When a Vietnamese girl wanted to sell
Me a pack of Marlboro

Now two dollars a pack seemed kind of steep
But I gave her the two so she’d go
But when I lit up, something was wrong
There was pot in that cigarette roll!

So then things were strange in all kinda ways
Let me clue you, bein’ stoned ain’t no fun
When you’re lonely ‘n scared ‘n acutely aware
That there just ain’t nowhere to run

Then on the third day they called reveille
Lined to us up ‘neath the morning sun
Had the gall to joke,
“Enjoy your stay! Now welcome to Vietnam”

It was here that they picked our assignments
And what we’re going to do
“Hollenbeck!” they yelled. “You’re goin’ up north
With the Hundred ‘n First Airborne crew”

So a C-130 carried me north
To that ancient city of Hue
And a deuce ‘n a half came to give me a ride
That last little bit of the way

To a city of tents that stretched for miles
As far as the eye could see
This was the place the rear echelon stayed
The commanders and all of MACV

But I was a grunt, so after two days
Of burnin’ the outhouse waste
A chopper came to take
Me out to my rightful place

It’ll sound kinda strange, but I just couldn’t change
The feelin’ it was only half-real
Like some misguided scheme, wicked and mean
What was manly became very evil

Out in the jungles of the I-Corps
Up near the DMZ
Was to be the home of the of the 327
“Alpha Company” ‘n me

So into the jungle, with full jungle gear
A rucksack and M-16
And hand grenades and ammo belts
All the things to look real mean

Well, I found that first night on ambush
I had the tools, but not the will
I fell asleep ‘n nodded my head
‘N my helmet rolled off down the hill

For the next two days I walked around
Without that heavy steel pot
And I thought this was kinda good
‘Cause it was awful hot

Three days later we had an ambush
And in the firefight
I found not havin’ a steel pot
Was a difference ‘tween day and night

With two guys dead, four others hit
You can’t imagine my bliss
When one of the wounded handed me his helmet
‘N said, “Here take care of this!”

Now ain’t it strange how things can change
What once I held so high
Today a sweaty old helmet
Was more than money could buy

Well three days march through the jungle
Brought us back to the ambush site
To collect the one we’d left behind
Retreating the firefight

It seems that they had buried him
‘N marked the spot with a gun
Driven in the ground, with his dog tags ‘round
To be seen by everyone

The reason I remember this
It was then I went to war
My sergeant said, “You dig him up.
That’s what new guys come here for.”

Rain soaked the jungle that day
And I began to cry
As I dug that thing from the jungle floor
I felt a part of me die

But with that death, there came a strength
That I hadn’t had before
‘Cause none of this was real now
I’d finally gone to WAR

Now I know this ain’t what you wanted to hear
You wanted the stories I tell
But I only remember the funny ones
That’s how I cope this well

So as you read the following lines
And may miss the humor in some
Remember the truths that you hold so dear
Are dependent on what’s going on

War Poem Three

Now I had become a radioman
By the second week of my tour
A sixty-pound pack and then re-supplies
Is something I had to endure

But there were some real marvelous things
‘Bout carryin’ a “Prick 25”
I didn’t have to walk point or slack
Or pull ambush duty at night

Nor on re-supply did I tote any stuff
I was above such a lowly curse
But the stature of “Noble” came with a price
You were the one that they shot at first

And so it was, on re-supply day
The first thing I would do
Is cut a hole in my new fatigue shirt
‘N stuff my receiver cord through

And another hole up by the shoulder
I found was a perfect place
To stuff my short antenna down
So it rode in by my waist

And then I would adorn my pack
With leaves in order to hide
The fact that underneath that “ruck”
A radio did hide

And though it mighta looked kind of strange
It was this that kept me alive
while others didn’t fare so well,
I was the one that survived

So you can imagine my dismay
When I had to go with Ralph
Now, he was the forward observer
But I’m gettin’ ahead of myself

You see we’d been walkin’ this saddle
‘N started up the other side
Third platoon was in the lead
We were next in stride

When a machine gun belched that laugh of death
‘N we all hit the ground
Third platoon was cut in half
‘N five of them were down

The Forward Observer came runnin’ back
Yellin, “I need a radioman!”
My sergeant really let me down
When he pointed and yelled, “Here’s one!”

Now the Forward Observer calls artillery
To fire on the enemy line
But you got to get right in their face
So their coordinates you can find

Well he grabbed up my receiver
‘N drug me back towards the fight
mortar rounds were comin’ in
‘N explodin’ to the left and right

He yelled at me between the blasts
“I’ve got to have your whip!”
Now, that’s a twenty-five foot antenna
Kinda like a beacon tip

That says, “Look here! Here’s what you want!”
Why, you may as well have a sign
That flashes in the dead of night
“If you can’t see this you’re blind!”

Still, I was puttin’ up my whip
When there came a terrible blast
Of a mortar round right next to us
It cut that whip in half

Well, I drug poor old Ralph by the handset cord
As I ran the other way
Yellin’ “Radio’s broke! Radio’s broke!”
It was all I could think of to say

Well it wasn’t five minutes later
When all was quiet n’ still
The enemy had retreated
‘N we walked up the hill

We collected our dead ‘n wounded
Than I gave my sergeant a tip
“Baldwin,” I said. “Don’t ever call me
When someone wants the WHIP”

War Poem Four

Now I was part of second platoon
Though I didn’t rely on the gun
My call sign was Two Five Charlie
I was Baldwin’s radioman

‘N we were all part of Alpha Company
Of the Airborne 327
To be out, search and make contact
Was our official designation

And that’s what we did, the best we could
Stuck our nose where it didn’t belong
My whole tour saw just three days in the rear
The rest was a jungle home

There are names that are burned in my memory
Like Firebase Bastogne
Eagles Nest, the A Shau Valley
The list goes on ‘n on

And even though I knew these places
We’d only stay for a day
Then right back in the jungle we go
For that’s where we were to stay

On this here day my platoon walked point
When we stumbled on a camp
Of dug-in NVA regulars
Who sprung a booby trap

That killed the Slack man and the Point
The rest of us dug in
The noise was that of the gates of Hell
Bein’ hammered by an angry wind

Then suddenly a mortar tube
Began that terrible sound
“K-thump, k-thump!” ‘n we all knew
Them rounds were coming down

‘N I was hunched up in a bow
At the base of a big ole tree
Sergeant Baldwin protectin’ the radio
Was layin’ on top of me

Will this round hit on top of me
Or a hundred yards away
Everyone knew they were comin’ down
But where, no one could say

Then suddenly a crashin’ sound
In the limbs of our hidden tree!
Then Thump! Thump! Thump! On down the hill
A dud round landed next to me

Well, the next round was comin’ down
Not far from where that one hit
Baldwin jumped, and then yelled, “RUN!”
I took off in a frightened fit

Well, I ran up the hill like a Christian
Being chased by the teeth of Sin
‘N suddenly I saw a bunker
I didn’t think; I just dove in

Then all of a sudden Baldwin comes
A-diving in after me
Just him and me in this God Dang bunker
As cozy as could be

Now as far as who might have dug this bunker
That thought never came to mind
It was just a mighty fine place
To leave that mortar behind

Then all of a sudden things got real quiet
In that funny kinda way
‘N you know something’s gonna happen
What it is, you just can’t say

There came a whisper through the radio
“Two Five Charlie you there?”
I whispered back in the transmitter
“This is Two Five Charlie, clear”

“What the hell are you guys doing?
Are the two of you both blind?
Now you may not be aware of this
But you just ran through their lines!”

Then they pulled out; it was over
They might have thought they were over-run
By a panic-stricken black man
And his terror-ridden radioman

War Poem Five

Now a radioman had a quandary
Those others didn’t have
Seems there weren’t no way to get up
Till someone offered you a hand

Especially on re-supply day
‘Cause we’d be heavier then
What with rucksack, radio and batteries
And food for another ten

And so on re-supply day
You could always find
Me tradin’ off my canned food
For the dry, dehydrated kind

Now tradin’ it was commonplace
But I would always win
‘Cause the highest value was that plastic bag
That my batteries came in

‘Cause that bag would keep your valuables dry
Your Bible and letters from home
‘Cause THAT was what was important
The rest, you just drug along

Well peaches could get me cocoa
And with pound cake, sugar galore
But my battery sacks went to demo men
‘Cause they always had C-4

Now, C-4’s a plastic explosive
That you detonate with a cap
It’ll blow down trees for landing zones
But there’s more to C-4 than that

I always used to cook with it
A white putty, kinda like clay
And a piece the size of the end of your thumb
Took twenty seconds to burn away

I’d light the corner and hold the cup
Over that burning little white spot
Then twenty seconds later
That water was boilin’ hot

Then pour that water in a pre-made bag
Full of dehydrated food, chili-con-carne,
maybe spaghetti ‘n meatballs
Who cared . . . bein’ hot, it lifted our mood

Then after dinner would come the treat
I’d have waited for all day
“Sugar a la Cocoa”
Made my own special way

Now, to make Sugar ala Cocoa
Would take a special knack
You’d take a canteen cup of water
‘N three instant cocoa packs

‘N when the canteen cup had boiled
‘N the C4 had gone out
You pour in three packs of cocoa
Then stir it all about

Then drink it down in little sips
‘N smell the evening air
Be thankful for another day
Fall asleep a-layin’ there

‘N that there was the night’s routine
I didn’t take no real friends
‘Cause in the jungle you never know
When a friendship’s gonna end

Why, even Baldwin and me
As close as two could be
I only remember twice that year
When he really talked to me

And told me about his civilian days
Runnin’ whiskey in the South
But then he got real cold again
And I couldn’t figure it out

I thought it was somethin’ that I had done
“What’s the matter with me?”
But now I see it was just his way
Case I got “Hit” you see

And turned into a “Body”
‘Cause that’s what death would bring
One minute you were somebody’s friend
The next you’re just a thing

So we each seemed to have our own way
Of coping with the time
Baldwin ‘n I chose to stay alone
Then we would be just fine

‘Cause then when things would happen
and Bodies were all about
That’s all they were, was bodies
No feelings to sort out

Each man found his own special way
To try to gain some peace
Mine was Sugar a la Cocoa
Before I went to sleep

War Poem Six

Now snakes are universal things
You find them everywhere
But in the jungle all things change
So you got to stay aware

In the Redwood Forests where I grew up
We got our rattlesnakes
If you don’t heed their first alert
Your life could be at stake

Yep, that’s what we tell the little kids
But really no one dies
That’s just one of those truths we carry
That really was a little white lie

But the jungles got a Rainbow Python
Now this snake you’d have to see
It looks like it’s about twenty feet long
‘N big around as a sapling tree

One day on our jungle stroll
My platoon was in the rear
When suddenly came an abrupt halt
The reason wasn’t clear

Nothin’ came on the radio
So we all just stood ‘n wait
Then down the line there came the news
Stay away from this big old snake

Now just leave it alone it won’t hurt you
Just quietly slip past
And don’t give away our position
With no loud machine-gun blast

So proceeding on at a slower pace
I finally reached that snake
All coiled up like a stack of tires
I wondered what he’d make

Of these here white guys a walkin’ by
Cause all the company blacks
Had beat a new trail in the jungle
Fifty yards out, then brought it back

Now maybe it was one of those little white lies
Their parents had been known to make
Whatever it was, I can tell you true
Them black guys hated snakes

Then the jungle can go to other extremes
And the Bamboo Viper’s one
Why, it’s only thirteen inches long
And can barely bite your thumb

They told us all about it
“It’s a three stepper,” they said
Which meant that if you were to get bit
Three steps later you’d be dead

How such a little snake
‘N such a pretty shade of green
Could have such a nasty bite
Just added to the dream

Now this here day was re-supply
Our traden’ was all done
Another radioman and I
Sat waiting in the sun

Strapped in our rucksacks, ready to go
Awaitin’ for a hand
To help us up, ‘cause that would be
The only way we’d stand

Now this kid, we called Short Round
He was only five feet tall
Out of the six of us with radios
He was the shortest one of all

Well, he was tellin’ me ‘bout R ‘n R
‘N going to Bangkok
And all the things he was gonna do
When suddenly he stopped

His head was froze and his body rigid
His eyes big as a dinner plate
For there on the shoulder of his rucksack strap
Was a tiny green snake

With its little tongue a dartin’ out
It really looked kinda dear
The way that little green stake was nuzzlin’
Right at Short Round’s ear

I watched for a minute and kinda smiled
And told him, “Boy, nice snake!”
He didn’t breathe nor bat an eye
Not one sound did he make

Well, I finally broke down and called a gunner
Who came over and gave a swat
That knocked that snake from Short Round’s neck
Then killed it with a rock

Now Short Round, who had been in terror
Wouldn’t move and wouldn’t shout
The minute that snake was off his back
Proceeded to pass out

Well the snake was the one who came up short
On that particular day
Two weeks later it was Short Round’s turn
‘N that’s how the game was played

War Poem Seven

Now, eighteen-year-old little boys
Aren’t known to be over-smart
And are willing to believe most anything
‘N take it straight to heart

It’s not that the Army is always sneaky
Or deceit is a matter of course
But often it seems what looks like a gift
Turns out a Trojan Horse

Well the morning started like any other
Then came the call from MAC V
For the demolition men to prepare
‘N blow a big LZ

Now, “LZ” stood for “landing zone”
For Hueys to drop in
‘N medivac or re-supply
or maybe bring new men

But things were different ‘n we were told
“Blow a bigger zone today”
Then outta the sky came three Chinooks
The entire company was whisked away

They took us back to that city of tents
The home of rear support
And put us down without sayin’ a word
On a grassy heliport

Well, none of us knew what was going on
This had never happened before
We were met by one of those rear echelon
As we left the chopper door

“Over there are tents you’ll find
Drop your weapons and rucksack
Next to the cot that you pick out
Take your time and meander back”

I walked to the tent ‘n found a cot
That I would call my own
And stepped outside with a single thought
To just stand and look around

It was then that I noticed them two huge coolers
And that fella from the rear
Callin’ to all the passerby
“Over here you can have free beer!”

Free cold beer! God! What a treat!
I’m a glut, and I took two
Then I asked the kids a-handin’ them out
“Now what do we do?”

“Well, you can take a nap or read a book
or take a little stroll”
I opted for the latter
and went to that grassy knoll

Where the choppers landed that brought us here
Just a half-hour before
Now sittin’ here with two cold beers
How far away was the war!

I gazed across the city of tents
As far as the eye could see
All these people to keep us in the bush
Was more than I could conceive

Both beers gone, I stood up
And walked a little ways
When I finally reached the cooler kid
Again I heard him say

“Look here! Look here! I got free beer!
It’s cool ‘n crisp and clean”
I grabbed another on my way to the cot
Where I napped without a dream

Wakin’ up at evening time
With the sun just goin’ down
I stumbled out and saw that beer kid
Still given’ out free rounds

“Hey Two-Five!” yelled a gunner
“Come here and look at this
Over there they got a mess tent
That you don’t want to miss”

“The food they’re servin’ is good and hot
And for a special treat
They serve it on these metal trays
By God! It can’t be beat!”

“But what puts the top crust on the pie
are these guys from the rear
Why they have to clean up after us
I tell you, Heaven’s near!”

So I went in and enjoyed myself
I truly ate my fill
When I came out the beer kid said
“They’re showin’ a movie on the Hill!”

On the grassy knoll where the choppers land
They had built a makeshift screen
And were showin’ a movie with Doris Day
More beauty I’ve never seen

Her skin so smooth, her smile of grace
Her eyes so big and round
There were no jeers or catcalls
We were all held spellbound

How I’d forgotten the rounds ‘n curves
That females do possess
And grown accustomed in their place
To sinew, beards and sweat

And as I watched that Angel face
Upon that makeshift screen
My heart was pulled. I began to cry
I felt as though thirteen

And when I went to bed that night
I dreamed of softer things
Of redwood trees and summer parks
And caroling songs to sing

Well, the following morning we awoke
Without a reveille
A new beer kid was at the coolers
Yellin’ his chant, “Cold beer! Its free!”

In the mess tent they had scrambled eggs
And sausage by the pound
And when we were done we were called together
In the center compound

They said Chinooks would be here soon
To take us for a swim
We’d be goin’ a few miles over
To the Gulf of Tonkin

Each man would get a swimming suit
And a tube to use that day
And the Marines would pull perimeter
Which meant that we could play

In the water the whole day through
And not worry any at all
Of all the things that had come our way
This was the best of all

And play we did the entire day
They brought us out a snack
And they had a whole dinner ready
By the time that we got back

We had our fill ‘n read some books
And slowly drifted away
Into sleep, but were ever thankful
For these last couple of days

But we figured we had earned it
In the jungle, a hundred and ten
Days straight without a rest
Makes for weary men

But little did we realize
It hadn’t yet been earned
It was Five A.M. the following day
When everybody learned

They woke us with a muster call
We fell out in full gear
They brought us to a central place
Where everyone could hear

“Now, you Jewish boys will find a Rabbi
Standin’ over there
And the Catholics, over there’s a Priest
You Protestants come here.”

And so it was we were divvied up
And at our respective sites
We were stunned to find our holy men
A-given us Last Rites

“Now listen up,” the commander said
We’re leavin’ out at dawn
To make a heliborne assault
On the Valley of the Sun”

“Now the A Shau Valley, intelligence says
Is holdin’ the NVA
In the strength of a full battalion
But we know you’ll find a way”

“To kick some ass or get in their face
‘Least make a nuisance of yourself
Now may the best go with you boys
The Hueys will take you out”

And so you see it could well be
That perhaps the smartest one
Is the one who asks, “What is the price?”
Before the game’s begun

But eighteen-year-old little boys
Aren’t known to be over-smart
And are willin’ to believe most anything
And take it straight to heart

War Poem Eight

I met an Indian in the great northwest
By the name of “Elder Jim”
And was given the greatest of honors
To spend some time with him

And when we’d seen a predator kill
On a walk, I’d ask him, “Why?”
He’d look at the sky, then smile ‘n nod
And say, “It’s a good day to die.”

Then for a moment I’d see the game
Of which we’re all a part
“This knowledge you will call your own
When you feel it with your heart.”

There, in the dimness of the breaking dawn
As I looked at the other men
It’s strange, the memories that can come
I thought of old “Elder Jim”

Though young, we were part of the dance
I admitted with a sigh
And for those of us whose time had come
It looked like a good day to die

Now my company had a hundred men
A battalion’s four times that
The A Shau’s where we were being sent
To go get in a scrap

Well, my platoon had drawn short straw
We were first to hit the ground
And I was in the second chopper
That would soon be goin’ down

The formation was quite impressive
All those choppers in the air
The B-52s had worked over the valley
There were pockmarks everywhere

And then we came like a blaze of heat
Chopper “1” hit the ground
Dropped five men, then pulled away
As my Huey started down

Well, we’d no sooner hit the ground
And left that whirring ship
When machine-gun fire blurted out
Chopper “1” was hit

It stopped its lift ‘n hovered there
Then suddenly burst into flame
And three men jumped from 60 feet
Onto the A Shau plain

We watched this sight in utter horror
Than Baldwin yelled, “Get down!”
The entire assault was pulled up short
Leavin’ 10 men on the ground

We quickly crawled into a circle
There to make our stand
Our legs the spokes of a wagon wheel
We laid there man to man

I rolled my head ‘n I could see
Way up there in the sky
The rest of the company’s Hueys a-circlin’
It looked like a swarm of flies

Then someone yelled, “Here come our Cobra’s!”
And we hunkered into the dirt
As those ships of death came blazin’ in
Their mini-cannons did blurt

A sound no man should ever hear
It’s the call to Judgment Day
And the ground erupted with their rounds
Startin’ fifteen feet away

For the next ten minutes the gun ships flew
The entire ground did shake
I tried to crawl inside my helmet
Where maybe I’d be safe

Again and again they strafed on in
Till my very bones did quake
And I tried to hide by closin’ my eyes
And prayed to myself not to break

But we were made of tougher stuff
Than fear alone could break
And finally the radio gave a call
That’s the last pass they would make

Then Baldwin yelled, “Let’s get those guys
From the Huey that just went down!”
And I jumped up, as did us all
When suddenly I found

That I was the one a-walkin’ point
Where a radio don’t belong
But 18 years old is a marvelous thing
For you live by reflex alone

So I used my gun to part the grass
That was taller than my head
And carefully made my way to the place
Where I knew we’d find them dead

First we came to the remains of the ship
Just junk and melted ash
I knew that there would be no way
To survive that kind of crash

But we’d seen them jump ‘n they’d have landed
A little bit further on
So I gently made my way to that place
When suddenly I stumbled on

A matted down patch of elephant grass
Two pilots knocked out cold
And a door-gunner holdin’ a bead on me
A “Thirty” under full load

His leg was broke and his hands did shake
His face was white as a corpse
But he held that machine gun trained on me
With two thousand rounds of force

We both were froze by the grip of terror
As we looked in each other’s eyes
Then suddenly he fainted dead away
When he finally realized

That I was friend and not a foe
And his ordeal was done
Was I ever glad, for two thousands rounds
Were strapped in, ready to run

Then the Medivac came and hovered in
We loaded the three aboard
The rest of the Hueys started on down
With the Heliborne mission restored

When Baldwin and I, and two other gunners
Went back to the scene of the crash
To get the dog tags of the second door-gunner
Who had finally seen the last

Of this hellish place and this stupid war
And the taste of fear in your mouth
The constant wonder and askin’ why
And what is it all about?

Protruding from the burned up crash
We saw the door-gunners boot
‘N Baldwin broke for just a moment
For he’d reached his moment of truth

But me, I looked around the valley
And then up to the sky
And knew that it was all okay
Today was a good day to die

War Poem Nine

Sometimes into moments filled with terror
Something funny will squeeze
And dictate the acts of those concerned
Like an honor among thieves

Willard, he was a Missouri boy
A dirt farmer through ‘n through
A slow talking, surefooted mountain of joy
A fellow you were glad you knew

For the first three months, Will was quiet
Why, he wouldn’t talk at all
But then he started to open up
‘N the stories he’d recall

Would keep us all in stitches
And help us pass the night
And remind us there were other things
Besides this daily fight

Yes, Willard was a big fella
With a heart of solid gold
You’d see the Missouri countryside
In the stories that he told

That slow, deliberate drawl of his
That told of milkin’ cows
‘N funny things that always happen
In little farm towns

Yeah, Willard was a Missouri boy
A dirt farmer through ‘n through
But he also carried an M-79
The grenade man for second platoon

An M-79’s a short little gun
That makes a “bloopin’” sound
That is real easy to distinguish
When you least want to be found

‘N that rear sight bein’ six inches tall
Is the worst thing, it is said
For in order to aim the gun at all
You gotta raise your head

But that was Willard’s destiny
One has to do their job
Whether ‘neath the jungle canopy
Or on the Valley sod

This bein’ dropped on a valley floor
Was kinda new to us
‘Cause we were Jungle Bunnies
That’s where we knew our stuff

So we would hike along all day
Doin’ our valley stride
But never get too far away
From the jungle on one side

And come the night, we’d head in
Amongst the hills ‘n trees
Where some might feel all hemmed in
But we felt right at ease

So that became the ritual
We’d hike till three or four
Then into the jungle ‘n set up camp
Next day, we do it some more

Now four o’clock this particular day
We started our ascent
Up a wooded hillside
That looked as Heaven sent

But the Goodness and Serenity
Weren’t long for beast or bush
When the clumsy feet of second platoon
Sprung a poorly laid ambush

Now the plan was good but the aims
Were poor, no one seemed to be hurt
But you just can’t have that in a war
Each side dug in the dirt

The blast ‘n fury of angry rounds
Pierced the afternoon air
Then came that “BLOOP” the M-79
You could hear it to China, I swear

I remember thinkin’ as he fired that thing
“Keep down or you’ll wind up dead”
Sure enough, he took a round
Right square in the forehead

Now, let me tell you about Army equipment
Every bit is highly refined
‘Cause it seems that folks have been at war
since the very beginning of time

Take for instance, the helmet you wear
It’s not just a steel pot
There’s an inner liner of fiberglass
Whether you like it there or not

Now, getting’ back to Will that day
I watched him take a round
His head jerked back, that’s all she wrote
Next thing, he was down

The round pierced the steel pot
Right where it went in
But between the steel ‘n plastic caught
And ran around the rim

Willard shook his big ole head
Got up with an open mouth
Dropped his gun in his eyes rolled ‘round
One north ‘n one goin’ south

He started to stagger ‘n shake his head
And stumble up the hill
Right toward their lines then stop and weave
He took a step or two

Back down the hill, then he fell down
And rolled the rest of the way
Out of the ambush-killing zone
Where he’d be safe to stay

Then, gunfire erupted again
For as this had been going on
Neither side had fired a shot
Like the calm in the eye of a storm

And when it was over no one was hurt
No casualties of war
Save for Willard’s ears, that is
That rang for a week or more

War Poem Ten

When in the bush it’s best to have
An imaginary friend
’Cause the best laid plans can have a way
Of comin’ to a tragic end

But the other guys all had a girl
Someone from their state
Someone who had said goodbye
Someone who would wait

Now me, I had my family
And there was this girl I’d met
The night before I left for here
Her name was Susan Kent

I had her address so she became
The “One Who’d Wait Back Home”
She answered every letter I wrote
With a friendly one of her own

But a year’s an awful long time to go
When you haven’t got a friend
‘N so it was, sometimes I talked
To other Radiomen

Now, Fred was new to the radio
‘N new to the country too
And it’s said the only ones to get hit
Are the short-timers and the ones that’re new

But Fred was nice, ‘n he wanted to learn
So I started to give him tips
‘Bout how to camouflage with plants
‘N where to put the slits

To put your mike and antenna down
So no one would ever know
That you was different from other gunners
And was carryin’ a radio

Then, returnin’ the favors he’d tell me ‘bout
His home in West Virgin’
You could tell how much he loved that place
Why, his whole face would grin

He told of colors that’d hurt the eye
As the mountains turned to fall
And huntin’ with an old flintlock
Or perhaps a cap and ball

Now, that got my curiosity up
So I asked him, “Tell me more”
Which he did, with great delight
For the next three days or four

I learned the cap and ball was considered
The “new kid on the block”
While the one who really started it all
Was called the old “flintlock”

And, out at Bowling Green each year
They had a muzzle shoot
‘N we decided we both would go
Even dress the part, to boot

Now nights would pass, ‘n I would dream
‘Bout how it’s gonna be
To go to the shoot at Bowling Green
Young Freddy Phipps ‘n me

And even had two articles
Near gone from heavy fold
And I’d let my imagination run
With the stories that they told

Our plans were made; we were set to go
When the company suddenly stopped
At the edge of the valley one afternoon
My God! That day was hot!

Now, no one knew why we had stopped
So we just stood in place
We cursed our packs ‘n cursed the heat
As sweat rolled down our face

But here it is that things can change
In the shortest measure of time
The message was passed from man to man
Three Five Delta had stepped on a mine

Seems the Five Oh Deuce when they went away
Had left a callin’ card
Anti-personnel spread about
Like toys in a child’s yard

The medivac came and took Freddy away
But if I’m ever asked, “Have you been To Bowling Green?”
I can safely say,
“I dreamed it with a friend”

So Susan got more letters
Never told of how things were
But how I thought that things should be
And how much I missed her

War Poem Eleven

The company commander was head of us all
He was number one in the bush
He was there for only sixty days
So you see there was quite a rush

For the highest “body count” they could get
For that would advance their rank
When they went back home to their rewards
And all of the generals thanked

Them for their bravery under fire
What a good job they had done
But a just a secret ‘tween you and me
I never saw a one

When the bullets flew and the rounds came in
‘Cause I guess they had to pull back
Why, they had important things to do
Like plannin’ our attack

To get the maximum body count
‘Cause the more the merrier
As for the casualties we took
Why that was the price of valor

After ninety-two days in the A Shau Valley
They decided to march us out
Back to the jungle now, that change was good
And a sigh of relief rang out

But, advancin’ up the second hill
Late in the afternoon
An ambush sprung that was truly well done
And cut off third platoon

Now, this was different than when we had known
Their firepower was great
Our rescue attempts were soundly beat back
And we were forced to wait

Dug on that side hill awaiting our charge
That would come with morning light
And mortar rounds like shooting stars
Rained down throughout the night

Then with the dawn came our advance
But the NVA had gone
We secured what was left of third platoon
And blew a landing zone

To medivac those gallant men
Who had given part or all
When a scouting party was sent out
We got a radio call

Now, it seems on the backside of this hill
Dug into the jungle floor
We found a vacant hospital
And a huge munitions store

Well, that was the start of five long days
A-haulin’ the booty out
‘N the biggest cache ever found in Nam
Brought all the bigwigs out

And, every day as the choppers flew
Removing the supplies
Some NVA on an adjacent hill
Would let a few rounds fly

From a mortar tube that they had saved
Just a couple rounds a day
Just enough to let us know
That they hadn’t gone away

Then, from the sky there came a sight
No grunt should ever see
A Huey with gold stars painted on
To alert the enemy

Well the enemy knew, but so did we
And we all started to dig
A place to hide and be prepared
When out stepped “Mr. Big”

Sure enough, when they hit the ground
And out stepped finely dressed
The general with his cameraman
To get photos for the press

But, just as they had disembarked
We heard that horrible sound
The ringin’ of the mortar tube
In came a flurry of rounds

Well, over and over for three minutes straight
Till they finally ran out of rounds
Then a terrified general and his fat newsman
Caught the next chopper to hit the ground

Now, two months later in Stars ‘N Stripes
On the front page real clear
Was that general with the weapons all laid out
Some place back in the rear

And a story ‘bout how Alpha Company
Had flushed his booty out
And done it most courageously
‘Course with his general’s help

But, that’s how it is when you’re a grunt
And, you’re the one on the ground
And work stops here but a funny thing
The glory gets spread all around

War Poem Twelve

A funny thing it is to me
How much we dislike change
No matter how bad the present is
The “New” seems much too strange

And scary, so we hold ‘n hold
Until we’re finally forced
And find the New brings grand relief
From our previous harmful course

And so it was that fear would rise
Whenever time would come
To rotate out an old C.O.
And bring in a new one

Because the last four we’d had
Were “gung-ho’s” every one
And every man had pushed to the limit
To advance them up the rung

Now, on this particular re-supply day
We’d marched a week gettin’ here
The first chopper brought in our new C.O.
Another advancer, we all feared

Now, two hours passed since re-supply
And, the tension was easily felt
The question throughout the company
How bad was the hand we’d been dealt?

Sure enough, our fears came true
As the orders came to dig in
This was new and must be a sign
Of the hell of about to begin

The rest of the day drug slowly on
A foxhole for each man
And in our mind this hill had become
The place for our final stand

But nothing happened, and then dinnertime came
It must gonna be tonight
The Claymores out, the trip wires set
We were ready for the fight

A tense full night, the morning came
But no orders given to move
We whiled away the entire day
Once scared, we were now confused

‘N so it went and within a week
Each man had a palace built
Why, I even had a covered hammock
Now, that’s living life to the hilt

Strange though on re-supply day
They called on first platoon
To hike two clicks northeast of here
‘N blow a landing zone

Then get supplies ‘n divvy them up
And piss ant all of it home
To this mountaintop where the rest of us lounged
With no desire to roam

‘N every so often a forward observer
Would call an artillery strike
Clear out in the jungle where nobody was
Now, that’s the way we should fight

Well, after three weeks I could stand no more
So I tuned in the frequency
That would get information straight from the top
Our company link to MacV

I think what he did was to walk us around
On paper that is to say
Way out in the jungle and bring us back in
So we were close on re-supply day

To our mountain palace that we owned for a month
And then we had to leave
For rotation had come to this Gentleman
A fact that we all did grieve

Why his tour was only thirty days
None of us will ever know
But to Alpha Company he was the best
C.O. we’d ever know

War Poem Thirteen

Well, the rain had come to our jungle home
A rain like I’d never seen
It would pour for an hour and then be so hot
It would rain going up in steam

We’d try to move through this sweltering time
But you couldn’t get very far
It’d rain so hard that you couldn’t see
So we’d stand there ‘n wait for the storm

To be over and then we’d start up again
You learned to live with the wet
You kept dry socks ‘cause jungle rot
Was something you tried not to get

Now we tried to get jaundice or malaria
That was good time in the rear
But jungle rot on the other hand
Was something that every man feared

But the rain did some good ‘cause
It washed off the salt that caked on your uniform
It was also about the closest I got
To bathing in Vietnam

Well, that’s what it was like when a radio call
Came on that nondescript day
MacV was sendin’ a chopper out
To take Hollenbeck away

I was helping support my mother and brother
By sending home my pay
And with great effort my mother got through
To our Congressman one day

Now, it’s amazing what happens when you get
A Congressman for a friend
With that radio call, eleven months and two days
In the jungle comes to an end

I gave away rations and said my goodbyes
I gave Baldwin all of my fruit
He gave me a cuff, had a tear in his eye
I hopped aboard, ‘n I was enroute

Seeing the jungle for the very last time
But now from the tops of trees
Then to the tent city to do all the things
You have to do before you can leave

Now one of the things that I had to do
Was turn in my M-16
To a nasty old sergeant that took it ‘n said
“ It’s rusted and ain’t very clean”

Well, the bolt was stuck; it was rusted shut
And this sergeant got in my face
He started to tell me I was a bad soldier
To the Army, I was a disgrace

I tried to explain, “I’m a radioman
I call in artillery
‘N air strikes ‘n cobras ‘n I did my job
The best that it could be”

Well, he wouldn’t listen to any of it
Not a word I had to say
“Two hundred bucks to fix this thing
and it’s commin’ outta your pay”

They had mighty strange ways back there
And it made it hard for me
I was in trouble the entire three days
That it takes before you can leave

I couldn’t figure what made them so mad
When I’d forget to say “Sir”
We never did say that out in the bush
Why, the enemy might hear

Then on the morning of the fourth day
They handed me a pass
‘N told me to catch a plane in Hue
I was free to go at last

So I grab my duffel bag ‘n went
Down to the main road
Turn right and walked for fifteen minutes
Till I was finally told

That I was going the wrong way
And needed to turn around
Then a garbage driver stopped to say
He’d take me to the edge of town

At the main dump he dropped me off
Vietnamese were everywhere
Diggin’ through the trash for eats
Got to say I was really scared

So I started to run to get away
And the Chaplain gave me a ride
Right to the airport at the edge of Hue
Finally, someone’s on my side

A three-hour wait for the C-130
Then a bumpy flight to Ben Wah
Then herded like cattle for four more hours
Till that “Seven O Quick” to go home

When that freedom bird finally came at last
We were ushered all aboard
And seeing the faces of those that got off
My thought was, “Now it’s your war”

The stewardesses were all bubbly and bright
Everyone knew this was it
The end of the struggle, of the end of the fight
I sat back and slept the whole trip

War Poem Fourteen

Sometimes, that which you’ve waited for
A very long, long time
When it comes just ain’t quite the way
That you had in mind

Well, I don’t remember gettin’ from
The airport to the base
And downtown Oakland where formality quickened
To a maddening pace

They washed us up ‘n shaved our heads
And checked us for disease
Then this Doctor Sergeant says
“Bend over, if you please”

They took our boots ‘n poncho liners
They took back our fatigues
Then gave dress greens to wear about
With shiny shoes that squeaked

Now, a day and a half of nonstop go
The last thing we had to do
Was report to the paymaster’s window
And collect our rightful due

He pushed some money through the bars
And drug at all back in
Save for six dollars and twenty cents
“That’s what you get, my friend”

“It seems we overpaid you twice
Then, there are gun parts too, you know
The door to the street’s right over there
See ya; you’re free to go”

You don’t get this close then say anything
‘Cept maybe a hearty, “Yes Sir!”
I was out the door and on the street
So quick I was a blur

Now, on the streets of Oakland
At one o’clock at night
With no idea which way was home
I started to hitchhike

Than a fella in a Cadillac
Stopped to pick me up
He smelled like liquor, but what the heck?
You take anything when you’re stuck

“I’m headed to Eureka”
“That’s great!” I heard him say
Then, forty-five minutes later
He dropped me off in San Jose

I had to climb a freeway fence
To an all-night coffee shop
To find out just how lucky I was
This guy had finally stopped

‘Cause we had gone the wrong way
By fifty miles or so
Back over the fence to the northbound lane
Of the freeway I did go

That’s when my luck really did change
‘Cause ‘bout twenty after two
A salesman stopped to pick me up
He was headed to Eureka, too

Well, he never asked me about the war
He was courteous and polite
You know, I almost forgot
What a gentleman was like

And when we got to the Redwood Forest
He could tell that I was home
“If you want, I’ll pull over for a while
If you want to be alone”

That’s what he did, ‘n for twenty minutes
I sat the ‘neath the trees
Caught in the sounds of my forest home
And the gentle river breeze

Then on into Eureka
The city sights came clear
We came to Seventh Street
“Well, I’ll get out right here”

I walk three blocks to Susan’s house
My pen pal and so much more
I was crushed to find he was her husband
The guy who answered the door

Now, I think I handled it gracefully
Though I ‘spect everyone knew
And Susan’s point’s well taken
What else was she to do?

“You needed someone who would write
And I tried not to lead you on
But I also couldn’t say I married
Jim, while you were gone”

I thanked them for their thoughtfulness
Then said I had to go
And grab my duffel bag ‘n walked
The last ten blocks to home

This was all on Saturday
Went to work on Monday morn
Is if the call had been a dream
That I had awakened from

Well maybe a dream is what it was
It’s really hard to tell
But if it’s not, I’d just survived
The very depths of hell

War Poem Fifteen