“How Goes the Battle?”
A question my dad asked me on a daily basis.
My father, a Vietnam Veteran with PTSD, had a 100% permanent and total disability rating, and was still fighting the war long after leaving the battlefield.
The Vietnam War left an indelible mark on my father’s soul and this site serves as a digital archive of his time spent fighting the war both in-country and at home.
Thank you for stopping by, it means so much to me.
How Goes the Battle? 
Right on!
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Thanks!
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Thank you for sharing this.
Infantry veteran of Vietnam and parent of the child of a Vet.
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You’re welcome!
And thank you for serving our country.
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I wrote this song to pay Tribute to All Veterans and
would be pleased if you choose to post this in His Honor.
I Thank you and God Bless!
A Tribute To Veterans
In Vietnam, Korea and World Wars Past
Our Men Fought Bravely so Freedom Would Last
Conditions Where Not Always Best They Could Be
Fighting a Foe You Could Not Always See:
From Mountain Highs to Valley Lows
From Jungle Drops to Desert Patrols
Our Sinewy Sons Were Sent Over Seas
Far From Their Families And Far From Their Dreams
They Never Wrote Letters Of Hardships Despair
Only Of Love, Yearning That One Day Soon:
They Would Come Home, They Would Resume
And Carry On With The Rest of Their Lives
The P.O.W.’S Stood Steadfast
Against the Indignities And Cruelties Of War
They Could Not Have Lasted as Long as They Did
If They Had Relinquished Their Hope That Some Day:
They Would Come Home, They Would Resume
And Carry On the Rest Of Their Lives
Medics, Nurses, and Chaplains Alike
Did What They Needed To Bring Back Life
They Served Our Forces From Day Into Night
Not Questioning If They Would Survive:
They Mended Bones And Bodies Too,
They Soothed the Spirits of Dying Souls
And for Those M.I.A’S, Who Were Left Behind
We Echo This Message Across the Seas
We Will search For as Long As It Takes
You’re Not Forgotten And Will Always Be:
In Our Hearts, In Our Prayers,
In Our Minds For All Time
A Moment of Silence, a Moment of Summons
Is Their Deliverance of Body And Soul
To a Sacred Place That We All Know
Deep In the Shrines of Our Soul:
In Our Hearts, In Our Prayers
In Our Minds For All Time
INTERLUDE:
GOLD STAR MOTHERS GRIEVE: ENDLESSLY,
ENDLESSLY, ENDLESSLY…….
These Immortalized Soldiers Whose Bravery Abounds
They’re Our Husbands, Fathers, and Sons
They Enlisted For the Duty at Hand
To Serve the Cause of Country and Land:
They Had Honor, They Had Valor,
They Found Glory That Change Them Forever
Men Standing Tall and Proud They be
A Country Behind Them in a Solemn Sea
So Let the Flags of Freedom Fly
Unfurled in Their Majesty High:
In the Sun, In the Rain
In the Winds Across This Land
Years of Tears Has Brought Us Here
Gathering Around to Hear This Sound
So Let the Flags of Freedom Fly
Unfurled in Their Majesty High:
In the Sun, In the Rain,
In the Winds Across This Land
REPEAT:
In the Sun, In the Rain,
In the Winds For All Time
Jerry Calow (copyright 2003 )
Recital:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=591918
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Thank you for sharing your song-a very touching tribute.
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Hello.
My name is Robyn and I live in Oklahoma City, OK. I am a student at Southern Nazarene University doing some post graduate work on the Vietnam War – specifically the films and books about the Vietnam War.
First of all, thank you for your blog. I am glad to see that you have written so much about Vietnam – it is so important to archive this for history!
I came across your site as I am doing research for a paper I’m writing. I’m specifically writing about the impact John Wayne had on young men and how his films affected the expectations of what soldiers going to Vietnam thought their war experience would be like.
If you have the time I’d love to hear your thoughts. Did your dad grow up watching John Wayne movies? Do you know if he thought Vietnam was going to be like what he had grown up seeing in the movies?
Thank you for your time. Wishing you all the best today –
Robyn Riley
robynriley@gmail.com
Facebook robynreneeriley
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Thank you
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Very Nice.
I found you with the help of WordPress. Your blog was listed on my home page as someone with the same interests.
I too am a Veteran of South East Asia. I completely relate to your description of your Father and his Battles, ongoing.
I personally suffer from Night Terrors. Actually not that bad anymore.
Some how The Lord spared me the hell of alcoholism/drug addition.
I suffer mine more or less on an anti social level except with the others that have served.
Here in the desert I have lost two Brothers.
The first to leave this dimension, another Marine.
Homeless for 7 years. Steeped in the hell of alcoholism living in a tunnel in a wash.
As much as I worked on extracting him from his tunnel, to no avail. Marine was killed in the tunnel, in his drunken stuper sleep.Just about decapitated two months back.
Another Veteran friend of mine, Navy.
His job was extracting Recon Marines out of hell. He lived in another tunnel behind Estevan Park.
Again to no avail all attempted rescues from the tunnel.
His drinking was way far gone. George passed away in his sleep 4 weeks a go this Friday.
I am now as it were waiting on the flight deck for ‘The Life’ to consume another friend of mine. 82cd. Airborne Lt. D. Borlick.
Lt. turned 47 yesterday. He spends his day’s in a meadow, tucked in a valley in the desert. I see him every day after work.
His brother in another state wants him to be there instead of here in the street, in his meadow.
This seems to be the common thread that runs through the demise of my Military Brothers.
Always right before death they tell me about some relative that wants them to come and live with them. Of course all decline.
Then shortly after. Die.
Lt. is as well an Alcoholic. He is on his fifth year in the street. I expect he will be passing soon.
I have watched the daily deterioration of my friends who were on the wrong of the bottle.
Your father was a special man. As such this world and it’s cruel realizations only prove too much for those of us who served in The South East Theater operations.Just can’t explain that.Just is.
We were alone than.We are alone now except for each other.
I as well choose to call the star lit desert sky my bedroom ceiling.
Thank you for your dedication and all the hard work on your blog.
Semper Fi.
Lt. Ryan Sean Donovan
1st Marines/1st Force Reconnaissance/4th Bat.Echo/MARSOC
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Lt. Donovan,,
Thank you for sharing-your words serve as a poignant reminder that so many vets suffer alone. I sometimes wonder if my work on this blog matters, if it adds value to the plight of so many veterans and their families. And I think of my dad and wonder if I did enough to help him when I often felt so helpless myself. There are many reasons why I started this blog and reasons I’m still uncovering as time carries on but the one that really stands out is that I tried to be the voice for my dad when he could no longer speak for himself while still alive and I strive to do that years after he died. I don’t just run this blog I also work for a startup nonprofit organization, Carolina Veterans Support Group, whose mission is to aid the marginalized veterans, the homeless veterans, the forgotten veterans through a transition program. It’s still in its infancy but we’ll get there.
Thank you for taking the time to view my blog and comment. If you (or your friends) ever feel like sharing your experiences on the battlefield or when you came home, please email me through the contact form up top or post it as a comment on this site. I just want to make sure that you know that you matter and your buddies matter.
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Your work is well felt and appreciated.
For us Veterans of South East Asia our life back here in the U.S. was hell.
we were ostracized as Baby Killers. Woman Killers and the like.
As I disembarked a Pan Am flight at San Fransisco Airport I was pelted with eggs and tomatoes. My Dress Blues a disaster.
All I wanted to do was to hang out and surf back in Southern California.
Thing was every day fights. every day the name calling from my fellow country men.
Yeah. I kicked ass. To what avail. After 3 months I drove my car down to Camp Pentleton and re-upped. I stayed for 15 more years.
Quite possibly the reason I along with The Lord saved me from the ravaging terror of alcoholism and drug addition.
That said the only people I relate to are my Military Brothers and Sisters.
I believe this is for the simple fact that as Military we understand Respect, Honor and The Privilege of Serving.
As far as Homelessness goes this is my choice. I want not a thing from my government. Just to leave me and mine alone.
The fact of the matter is, I’m sure you are aware of this. As Combat Veterans, we are off the ledge, thru the window, gone Sally gone. We ain’t never coming back.
But for sure we are all Honorable people who would most defiantly give the shirt off our backs.
Thank you for your Kindness and Your Blog. Your Heart speaks.
Thank You.
Semper Fi.
Ryan Donovan
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