War is Hell

(Photo credit: Horst Faas) Source.

How I want to hold you in my arms.
And be enchanted by all your charms.
But that will never be,
For they were taken from me.
Oh, this damnable war.

I want to dance with you one more time.
And claim you to be just mine.
But with only one leg.
I must beg for a memory instead.
Oh, this damnable war.

To look upon your face,
Would make my heart race.
What joy to behold,
Many memories would unfold.
But sight left with that terrible blast.
Oh, this damnable war.

I think of you every day
While in this bed I lay.
I’ll never be whole.
Except in my soul.
My love for you will never fade,
Until I’m put into the grave.
Oh, this damnable war.

_________________

PFC Michael J. Mendoza (Piedmont, CA) uses his M16 rifle to recon by fire. Earlier, the company received sniper from the valley below. His company; Company A, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, was moving to a mountaintop to secure a landing zone. This mission was part of Operation “Cook” conducted in Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam. Mendoza was also known for his helmet graffiti “Goin-home!! California”. 8 September 1967 Source.

This first appeared in The Havok Journal on April 10, 2023.

Born in Durham County, North Carolina, Elaine Jones is an Army spouse, Army mother and Army & Marine Corps grandmother who enjoyed careers in nursing and education before retiring.  

Her first career was as a neonatal nurse at Duke University Hospital. She left the nursing profession and became an Army spouse, raising a family and supporting her husband’s military career.  She later became interested in education and served as a teacher’s aide, then as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructor for Alamance Community College. 

Active in community service, Elaine has organized efforts to build mobility aids for the disabled, and volunteered to help local hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and community centers. She loves to bring smiles to the faces of hospital patients, children and assisted living residents portraying her alter ego, a clown named “Miss Dipity Dolittle.”

Elaine enjoys writing and published Granny’s Legacy: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems as well as featured articles and poems in Good Old Day’s Magazine, The Havok Journal and The Epoch Times, Battlefields. 

Elaine’s hobbies include writing, reading, painting and crocheting. She donates some of her crocheted items to support local charities including Ricky’s Retreat, a safe spot for struggling young adults and teens. 

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.