Mark
enlisted in the U.S. Army and served three tours in Vietnam. He arrived in coun
try
February 1970 and served with D Battery, 25th Artillery, 277th and 264th Field
Artillery Detachments (23rd Artillery Group) in III Corps (Gia Dinh and Hau
Nghai Provinces, Tay Ninh, and Cambodia). His primary MOS was 17K20, Field
Artillery Target Acquisition. He DEROS’ed (returned from overseas) in March of
1972. He is currently Superintendent of the Natural Resources Division, Howard
County, MD and professional photographer. His favorite subjects are Vietnam and
Maryland's eastern shore. He and wife Huyen live in Baltimore County, MD.
Evening nears.
The
Hunter-Killer teams fly past performing their
late day
rituals.
They dart
about, just above the trees and paddies
like
dragonflies in daunting ballot.
Darkness
arrives and with it
evils of the
night.
Soon the C R R
R R U M P of artillery
will split the
soft, dark earth
and tear the
flesh of those who
share that
space.
The nightly
"cat and mouse" game, the hunters and
the hunted,
silently stalking.
Neighbor
against neighbor.
Brother against
brother.
Shadows
lengthen.
Smell the wood
fires and cooking rice.
Mothers shout
to their children
to stay away
from the hot, glowing charcoal.
The children
turn to tease the family dog or
chase the
chickens searching for food.
Joy overflows
in this village.
In the
distance, I hear the cheerful shouts of
young boys
bringing buffalo home from the fields.
The setting sun
fills the sky with pastel hues
that stretch
across the heavens.
Tranquility
spreads over this village.
Young men eat
slowly in silence.
They bid good
bye to their families that gather
at the edge of
town. They disappear
into the
lengthening shadows carrying tools of war.
How many more
mothers
will lose their
sons tonight?
Sorrow abounds
in this the village.
Poets Pages
Mark
enlisted in the U.S. Army and served three tours in Vietnam. He arrived in coun
try
February 1970 and served with D Battery, 25th Artillery, 277th and 264th Field
Artillery Detachments (23rd Artillery Group) in III Corps (Gia Dinh and Hau
Nghai Provinces, Tay Ninh, and Cambodia). His primary MOS was 17K20, Field
Artillery Target Acquisition. He DEROS’ed (returned from overseas) in March of
1972. He is currently Superintendent of the Natural Resources Division, Howard
County, MD and professional photographer. His favorite subjects are Vietnam and
Maryland's eastern shore. He and wife Huyen live in Baltimore County, MD.