| “A VIETNAM EXPERIENCE” by Tom ‘the Toe’ Talarico |
| Opening note:Mike, I thought you might like to post this to our poems section. It was occasion by a Vet group trip to the traveling ‘Wall’. Tom was not quite ready for it so he hung back and watched form a distance. Later that night he went to the computer and wrote this poem, his first attempt…..as a bard. Tom was a 27th Regiment ‘Wolfhound’ and a MATS team advisor 67-68 with a Medic MOS, as well as damn good grunt. Out of 65 men on his small ARVN compound just off Highway 1, five survived the night of February 3, 1968, all wounded. On February 5th they decided that help was not forthcoming and decided to try make a insanely hazardous dash for the ‘Black Dog Inn’ at Cu Chi city. They drove west down Highway 1 right through the middle of the 13 day Ap Cho Battle that started on February 5th. ‘Rat Pack’ was scrambled to help the men of 2/12th on a TAC-E on this day). The men of the 2/12th, heavily engaged with the entrenched enemy, stared in amazement as a jeep with five men in it, and four flat tires, drove between the enemy and them in 1st gear. When the jeep finally arrived at the ‘Black Dog’ in Cu Chi city they told the men they had counted 67 bullet holes in it, but miraculously yet none already wounded men were hit. These were the HEROES we served, what an honor…… Frenchy Gibeault “Rat Pack” Door Gunner “A VIETNAM EXPERIENCE” by Tom ‘the Toe’ Talarico The Army put us on a boat so huge, We doubted it could float; And sent us to a place called Vietnam When we hit our port of call We were ready one and all; But rule one was to get your gear and Jump on trucks They took us to Long Binh and In barracks we were crammed. To wait until the sergeant called our Name Our thinking was pure bliss We had been afraid of this? But that was not Uncle Sam’s Planned game Talarico, Jones, and Gleason, You’re going to the 25th Division; Far away at a base camp called Cu Chi Your AO’s were called the Iron Triangle, Parrot’s Beak and Ann Margaret We thought we were cool but, the Lifers were not fooled They knew that we’d soon all be targets At Cu Chi we were welcomed like hero’s one and all; But soon were pulling bunker guard, filling sandbags, and pulling KP in the mess hall After several days of toil and outright insanity We were assigned respective units where The Grunts were glad to see us, cause soon they would all E.T.S. most shortly I was assigned to be a Wolfhound “Blood and Guts” 27th Regiment Infantry Two days later I’m on ambush with the rest of my squad seeing Viet Cong behind every tree We set up, sat out the night, And boredom soon washed away our fright, But that was just a lucky night to be. On the early morning after and 3 hours of Fitful sleep, we all picked up our rucksacks And took a 4-Klick stroll called a sweep. After weeks of VC contact we Soon learned what was combat Instead of Big-Screen movie fare, We’d rather had a peep. I left to join a MATS team With better odds it seemed But that’s when Chuck showed us his true side. After weeks and months of skirmishes And no support but what we had on hand, We realized that “Charlie” ruled this Foreign land. We fortified our positions and Kept with our traditions, This little squad of seven Infantry man. Any time that we encountered ‘Chuck’ With pride, guts, and little luck, We gave him all he wanted and, Just a little more. After being mauled and battered In all the action we encountered He respected our resolve and tossed his hand. He had learned to fear and respect us And he knew when to disengage us For mightier were we, than them. Then came the TET of ’68 and Hell was Broken Loose Chuck had us in his sight on the ready to annihilate us and he created quite a ruse. First our Kit Carson left, then Trung Wi Ba and 14 others Presumably to celebrate, With their fathers and their mothers. From 79 to 65 the numbers did decrease, All within 24 hours prior to the cease. It was dry and dark in ’68 on that very night Till the RPGs began to fall and 51’s did sing their song We were instantly confronted with many Viet Cong Who came ready and full of fight. It was 1:15 in the morning And the explosives were a-storming With Charlie in the driver’s seat Revealing all his might. We sucked up all our fear to every man Then came Captain Adams’ call to arms For everyone to hear “We’re gonna dig in and repel these sneaks who come from Hell Chuck will be sorry of his folly in the morn.” Firing LAWs, grenades, and B.A.R.s, small arms and claymore mines We repelled in full force and we were very much the worse, for Chuck had exacted an awesome toll. When the smoke had cleared the air, We viewed the dead lain there Not one could dance or sing a tune For Hoc Mon had started there They had used us for a scare, And destroyed a place called Xuan Touy Toung The battle stopped for us but moved to Ap Cho, Where the infantry, the cavalry, and slicks That’s where Victor Charlie got his licks And the tide was turned The 25th, 187th, triple deuce commenced bloodletting, scorched, and burned. You can bet your last 5 Dong That “Chuck” sang a different song Because he was now “chopped liver”, not Viet Cong He was demoralized and crushed, By the will and firepower of our troops. In the news they said we lost the war As we still mourned our ghosts Our morale forever shaken by this lie. We fought until Deros, But Charlie never did get close, To whipping us or handing us defeat. The damage had been done Because Walter Cronkite declared they’d won, Ho and Giap ran to Paris full of Glee. But for I and all our heros who did their job till Deros, Satisfaction in us all. The only evidence that’s left, is remembrance of our best Whose names appear Upon a Wall. |
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