My Father’s Tears
 

My Father was one tough man.
A hard life had made him so.
For eighteen years I lived with him
And never saw him cry.

A Navy Vet from WWII,
He had never said a word
Of the pain and death he had witnessed.
He held it deep inside.

Then came my time in ‘69
I enlisted in the Corps.
He pleaded with me not to go
For he knew too well of war.

On my young, deaf ears fell his pleas.
For he had served when needed.
America was again at war.
Now this Vietnam was my duty call.

A young man’s war is exciting.
He dreams of adventure, honor, and glory.
Of heroic deeds in far off places.
And pretty girls awaiting his return.

But what do young men really know?
Of losing friends and killing?
Of severed limbs and bloody death,
The moments of sheer terror?
 
Of screams of pain that echoes
Throughout the waning years.
A young man knows of none of this
Until it is too late.

So I served my time in Vietnam.
Counting off every day.
And seeing the horror of it all
I’ve held it deep inside.

I came home one month early.
Surprising both Mom and Dad.
And caught off guard he slipped up.
His tears he could not hide.

For little had I realized
That while I had been away
Those days that I had counted off
He too had marked the time.

Now we are at war again.
Madmen have attacked.
History repeats they say.
Another son goes forth.

I asked him not to go.
For I know too well of war.
But my pleas for him to stay.
Fell on his young, deaf ears.

Duty bound is how he feels.
Into the Corps he’ll go.
He wants to be in the fight.
But what do young men really know?

He is my youngest son.
And until he is safely home
I too will mark the time.
And pray dear God, his safe return.

For 18 years he’s lived with me.
And has never seen me cry.
But when he finally marches home
We will share in my Father’s tears.


Michael Tank
USMC
Scout/Snipers
1969-1972

06/12/02




"Copyright 2004. Michael E. Tank All rights reserved. No part of this document may be copied, faxed, electronically transmitted, or in any other manner duplicated without express written permission of the author." 


 

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