Survivor salutes a Vietnam hero

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_181304.html ^ | Feb 25, 2004 | Vince Guerrieri

[onedoug]

TFTF, old OBM pal.

I believe if we win the War On Terror, Communism will fall in Vietnam, and we will have won that war too!

So much greater the glory of our fallen then.

And God, for America!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

AMEN Brother

[TruthNtegrity]

What a great story. Thanks for the ping.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Bill Morgan took Tom Ward's place on the Vietnam Veterans Wall.

That's how Ward views what happened 35 years ago today, when Morgan, 22, a Marine corporal, charged through machine-gun fire and exploding grenades to save a pair of wounded soldiers near the border of Vietnam and Laos.

Now, Ward, 53, wants to meet the people who grew up with Morgan and ensure that the Medal of Honor recipient's sacrifice is never forgotten. That's why he lobbied Mt. Lebanon commissioners to declare today William Morgan Day in Mt. Lebanon.

"I've lived a whole life that I wouldn't have," Ward said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

             GOD FORBID

Come here boy and take a seat.
Let me get this off my mind.
I heard you call your dad insane,
and he's nothing of the kind

Have you ever asked your dad,
where in the world has he been?
He might say "Nowhere Son",
or to "Hell and back again!"

I've known your dad most of his life
and I call him my friend.
But once your dad had brothers son,
who would go to the ends of earth with him.

You see, your dad was a Grunt son,
that's infantry so you know.
And he was sent away to fight,
in a war, far away and long ago.

At a place called Mutter Ridge
by Vietnam's D.M.Z.
The air was damp and it was hot,
jungle so thick you couldn't see.

It was noon on the sixteenth,
when the enemy opened fire.
Twenty seven men died on the spot,
take it for truth son, I'm no liar.

With no way out but straight ahead,
your dad fought hand to hand.
He gathered men and found a spot,
where they could die or make a stand.

They fought side by side both day and night,
wounded and bleeding bad.
And they fought for each other son,
because each other was all they had.

You see, his mind is filled with ghosts,
and he visits them from time to time.
They are the brothers that he misses most,
and in return, they march across his mind.

If he cracks a smile, and tears roll down his face,
or his eyes seem to fix a stare,
he's on a ridge in Vietnam,
and yes, all his brothers are there.

Men of war will form a bond
that others can't understand.
And they will do some things that don't seem right,
but it makes them no less a man.

Insane son?
No, I think not.
Your dad can never forget,
what most of us forgot.

To him the war is just as real
As it was when he was eighteen.
And the boys that he was with,
the likes, the world has not since seen.

So listen to his stories son
and try to hear them all.
You'll only wish your half the man,
if you ever get the call...

       GOD FORBID

Copyright by David T. Roberts 2000        

Delta Company: First Battalion Fourth Marines

 

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Ping ~*

[SAMWolf]

Ping

[Trikebuilder]

Hey Bro,
Something I penned tonight. Sometimes I get morose perhaps, and time recalls many things, whether we want them to, or not. Still, if we remember, we don’t forget, and that would be the greatest crime of all. Some poems are not all sweetness and light, but they still need the light of day.

Trike


Some Nights Are Harder

Remembering is hard sometimes,
echoes, echoes, paths we have trod.
Old dreams and nightmares chime,
recalling pathos on the path to God.

Old names and faces etched into time’s flow,
come back with sadness, their passing reminds.
There is a named wall deep inside you know,
I visit it sometime, there in all Vet’s minds.

Old tears, old pains, and old aches of the soul,
age us and gage us to a fine point indeed.
Quiet old men with memories still too whole,
recalling the heartbreaks, the last bitter seed.

Part of the cost we carry inside, a hard price to bear,
yet we honor those who we had to lose there.
We remember them often, and it lays our souls bare,
old soldiers, and sailors, and airmen still care.

That’s why we honor the one’s who stand there now,
we know the weight that they carry, as we did before.
They are our heroes and we share their Tao,
supporting them where others treated us like whores.

Honor the ones who stand there for you,
they stand tall and unbowed to be there at all.
Let none be forgotten and all that they do,
give them their dues for answering that call.

[StarCMC]

AWESOME Story!! Thanks for the pings Tonk and Linda!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Thanks Brother

[Travis McGee]

Thre are simply no words....

[Valin]

Well at least according to one presidental candidate. Of course he speaking from experience.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!((HUGS))

[risk]

Thre are simply no words...

I'm stunned. Something tells me that our Republic will be safe as long as a few Vietnam veterans are still strong enough to explain what they were defending. Hopefully enough of the special ops and WOT fighters will be able to take up the cause after that.

[bethelgrad]

Why yes he does have blue eyes.

[oh8eleven]

Minor point - Marines are Marines, not soldiers.
Semper Fi ...

[snippy_about_it]

Never Forget.

Thanks for the ping Sam.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-


http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39081

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[risk]

The irony in those who fear the variations of the redemption story is that men who believed in these things were the most loyal and fierce destroyers of fascism. Christian men liberated Europe's Jewry. Some of them fought all the harder because they knew about the camps. "If this can happen to the Jews, it can happen to us" is what they said.

[windchime]

Bump!