Thank You

Sitting in a company perimeter

Sweating, nasty, stinking grunts

Waiting for the choppers to come for another air assault

Knowing not what to expect.

A loud squawk over the radio

Just what we wanted to hear

Doghouse 6, doghouse 6 this is Rattlesnake 6 over

This is Doghouse 6 go

Just to let you know this is going to be a very HOT LZ

What else would we expect?

Then over the horizon comes the first of the choppers

Never really landing, just hovering there waiting for us to load.

Off into a dusty, hazy sky to our possible demise.

Doghouse 6 this is Doghouse 1 over

Doghouse 6 go

Sir, any info on the site?

No more than what you heard from Rattlesnake 6

Oh, was hoping they were wrong.

Don’t know house 1, just don’t know.

Then we see Willie Peter on the ground.

At 6 feet we leap for the ground and make a hasty but effective perimeter.

Just then one of the choppers takes a hit and auto rotates to the ground with a thud.

Before we can get anyone over to help the whole damn thing blows.

Damn, they didn’t have a chance.

Now we are taking rounds ourselves

Taking cover as best as we can

Cover my ass; what kind of cover does elephant grass give?

Slowly we move from the clearing to a partly wooded area that affords us some cover.

We are pinned down, no chance to go anywhere just to get shot

Now discipline is necessary, keep down and pick your targets

Set up the M-60 and open a field of fire to give us some relief.

Lob a couple of those M-79 rounds into the brush from where we are getting killed.

Then out of nowhere comes what we learned later is four Auzzie choppers

Firing into the enemy position and turning the battle

God Bless the Auzzies.

Broken contact, broken contact.

All this in just a very few minutes that seemed like hours.

Now before the enemy can regroup form up and lets move out

Toward the position the enemy had us pinned down.

Dog House 6, Dog house 6, this is your brothers from down under we’ll be around for a while.

Again Thank God for the Auzzies..

Not much of a poem?

I agree.

Just a simple thank you to MY Australian Brothers in Nam.

January 3, 2005