My War
VIETNAM, THEY ASK, SO WHAT WAS IT LIKE?
Text panel from:
MY WAR: WARTIME PHOTOGRAPHS BY VIETNAM VETERANS
(AS FEATURED IN THE NYTIMES.COM)
I felt so young
I felt so old
I felt so hot
I felt so cold
sometimes wet
sometimes dry
still can hear
the choppers fly
a weapon fires
someone cries
some would live
some would die
the still of night
till cannons roar
knock mighty trees
to jungle floor
the smell of life
the smell of death
a newborn baby
draws first breath
it don't mean nothin' ***
but that's a lie
now there's time
to stop and cry
take the hill
let it go
we still ask why
do any know
Sgt. Clyde B. Canny
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
Vietnam 1968-1969
*** This expression was commonly used to defer painful reactions to battlefield experiences to a time when they could safely be processed. Unfortunately, for some, that time has yet to come.