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An Old Veteran |
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He was stooped and unkempt
whiskers grown too long...
yet he had been a soldier
fighting the Viet Cong...
Given too much to drink
that elixir known as booze...
yet many an old veteran
has walked in those shoes...
There are some
who know him well...
and willing they are
to lead him to hell...
Like the Walker brothers
Hiram and Johnny...
and Southern Comfort
can't be bought w/o money...
But before you condemn
him, this old homeless bum...
he may have saved your son
on that last Rip Cord run...
"Will work for food"
his cardboard placard reads...
though his stomach is empty
it is his heart that bleeds...
My heart reaches out
to old veterans who are down...
and I'd gladly feed them all
in a restaurant in my town...
Some old vets were like rats
sent into tunnels under ground...
they routed out the enemy
whom in the tunnel they found...
Let me ask you this, my friend
would you do what he has done...
and if you did, would Old Granddad
be your friend when war was won... |
By
C. Douglas Caffey
Copyright 2004
Listed March
7, 2009 |
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Author's Bio:
C. Douglas Caffey is a disabled veteran of WWII. He
served (1944-1946) in the 509th Composite Bomb Group,
58th Wing, Air Photo Unit, 20th Air Force, United States
Army Air Force. It was the 509th who dropped the atomic
bombs on Japan and did the atom bomb tests at Bikini in
the Pacific. A chronic sufferer of PTSD since WWII, Doug
is a former college dean. He started writing poetry
several years ago and though he doesn't claim to be a
poet, he does claim to write from the heart. |
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