Theodore's World

Welcome to Vietnam
by Jay Keck, Echo company, 2/7, 1st Mar-Div

Poor boy in Hell, rich boy in Yale
Off the plane, into the rain
Nineteen, still green
Ding Dong, Viet Cong
First day, learn to pray
Mud 'n rain, men in pain
Dawn's early light, firefight
Day patrol, keep your head low
Mortars at night, Charlie's delight
Incoming rockets, arms out of sockets
Trip flare, men who dare
Punji stick, pull out quick
Incoming tracers, lots of sad faces
M-60 whistling Dixie
M-16 hot, damn, another jam
Flak jacket, gotta hack it
Helmet on head, nights I dread
Pointman, Promised Land
Willie Pete, minced meat
Smell of death, hold your breath
Search and destroy, Charlie's ploy
Hand grenades, babies in graves
RPG, who will it be
Fill sand bags, days that drag
Best friend dies, days of cries
Mail call, time to bawl
Morning mist, the smell of piss
China beach, out of reach
Long Bin cell, a place in hell
DMZ, no place to be
Down on the delta, no shelter
Sniper fire, gooks in wire
Claymore mines, works so fine
Fox hole, a place to go
Rock 'n Roll, high death toll
Shooting gooks, a place of spooks
Distant faces, far away places
USS Repose ship from heaven
Purple Heart, broken parts
Jungle hot, feet rot
NVA, bad day
Lock 'n load, saddle up
Out of luck Corpsman up
Booby traps, open yaps
Humping the bush, no rides just push
Concertina wire, open fire
Short round, hearts pound
AK 47, sure way to heaven
Tag 'em and Bag 'em going home early
Get some, Charlie's on the run
C4, even the score
Men in tanks, welcome yanks
Men in jets, sure bets
B-52's, Charlie's got the blues
Medivac, won't be back
Napalm bomb, HELP Mom
Friendly fire, no desire
Monsoon, days of gloom
Skeeters 'n snakes, God's mistakes
Elephant grass, this war will last
Dead dinks, Nam stinks
Kool-Aid, got it made
Malaria, it do scare ya
Hole watch, lives lost
Hot LZ, not for me
Tunnel rat, black cat
Body bag, gun or frag
R & R, far away bar
Boon docks, hard knocks
Rock pile, no smile
Bouncing Betty, soldiers get ready
Twilight's last gleaming, young men screaming
Body counts, death toll mounts
Fire in the hole, last patrol
Ho Chi Minh SUCKS
Shot timer, fence climber
13 Months no more grunts
Freedom bird, back to the world

'Bout sums it up.

Every time I hear Sadler"s "Ballad of the Green Berets" it takes me back to my early days in Vietnam in late '66. That was when the song was a hit on the radio. Even though I later ended up in Special Forces, it is my Vietnam days that the song reminds me of most.

Later I served with a couple of people who had served with Barry Sadler. They said he was a good trooper.

Thank you Chrissie. I'm reminded of the Movie "Green Beret " and the theme song by Sadler, "Ballad of the Green Berets". This was a movie I first saw in country, projected on a bedsheet hung on an S&P trailer in Quang Tri, we all got a great laugh over it, not at all like our reality, as we'd made quite a few night runs into the DMZ until the little people figured us out.
Barry Sadler's end was very sad for a true warrior.
Yeah Mark, that sure sums it up.

Mark, WOW that is fantastic, thank you so much for posting that.

Tom, thank you so much for sharing about
this song and Vietnam. Also about Barry
and serving with people that had served
with him.

Jack, thank you for sharing that. I agree so
much it was sad.