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Are You Down Today? |
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Tell me � are you �down' today?
Feel like running away?
On your way out of town
stop by my house and we'll leave together,
in spite of this hot weather!
Which way shall we go?
North I suppose;
where the breezes are cool
and where
we can sit under the shade of a giant oak
and talk about the past
for as long as our memories shall last.
Shall we talk about the War
of the Greatest Generation,
when you and I were
mere lads?
But we grew up fast... too fast
I say, for we had to put our toys
away
and leave �playing' for another
day!
Do you remember the big shoes
they gave us
and clothes of olive green?
We learned to march
and do close order drill
and then run eight miles over
that high hill?
Not much fun was it then
and especially
when
we went to college classes
both day and night.
We had high hopes becoming
fighter pilots
enjoying flight!
But Uncle Sam said,
"Sorry boys, but we see the
war coming to a close;
never mind the flying high,
we have other orders,
you'll see by and by."
So off to Lowry Field at Denver's
mile high
for photographic school.
No rest for the weary for that's the way
it is
when there's but one stripe
on your sleeve.
No time for fun and play
and no time for
�leave'!
We thought of the toys
left behind
by boys,
and we thought of girls
in this dog eat dog
world!
Not much time for love and
emotion
when we're headed across the
Pacific Ocean
to help with atomic devastation
for our once peaceful
nation!
Atomic bombs will teach the enemy
a lesson they'll
never forget!
Yes, we Remember Pearl Harbor
and the dastardly deed
by The Rising Sun
on December seventh
of �41!
Do you remember, my friend
what happened to the
USS Indianapolis
after that fast run from California
to the island of
Tinian?
In fourteen minutes she sank beneath
the angry waves
of a troubled sea taking with her
1098 officers and men,
who became meals for hungry
sharks,
that is all but 300.
Glad we were not of Navy Blue
that day, my friend,
but of the Army Air Corps,
for being eaten by a shark is a horrible
way to end
one's
life!
I'd rather fight on Iwo Jima
with those brave
Marines and die from
a grenade
or from some machine gunner
hidden in a hole
upon Mt. Suribachi!
There's one thing to say for dying...
it doesn't take long
and there are no nightmares
after the last breath is
taken!
I suppose, we'd better be
getting on back
or the folks will worry
�bout two old
WWII vets
who have no place to hide
and who are just tired
of living!
See ya' later my veteran
friend
and hope that life will soon
end! |
By
C. Douglas Caffey
Copyright 2007
Listed March
8, 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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