My Brothers in Arms* - Poem

In memory of all soldiers of the Vietnam Conflict who in faithful service fell and those who returned only to be consumed by the dark legacy of war.

We fought in the jungles of South Vietnam
We were there with the ANZACs to free up the land
But what hurt us so bad others don't understand
We answered the call from our Brothers in Arms

There were fields of destruction baptisms of fire
We had to leave our mates lying in the dust and quagmire
And when the fighting had ended we cried
For where they lay they had died
We held and we wept for our Brothers in arms

We saw so many things But death was all around
The stench was in the air and oozing from the ground

When the war turned against us the protests raged on
Their stings we could feel them even when we got home
So we hid in our darkness alone beyond the within
And saw our souls fighting our Brothers in Arms

Now the jungles are silent and the protests have stopped
But our hearts are still heavy for those we have lost
And the memories we have of them lay in gardens of stone
And the night claims our souls for our Brothers in Arms

Richard Hamon, W2 Coy, 1968-69