Dana J. Brown

Dana is Vietnam Veteran, having served with the US Navy from 1971 to 1974. He served aboard the USS Fortify MSO, and participated in Operation Market Time Patrol and Operation Endsweep. His unit was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

THE WALL

I stood up straight; I stood up tall,
As I took those final steps to “The Wall”.
My hands were shaking, my eyes were blurred,
And, in my heart, my soul, I heard;
Tell my wife, tell my son, tell my Father too,
I left my blood in a foreign land,
As my country asked me to.
Don’t grieve for me, I’m long past pain,
but I know the hurt is there,
Just remember what WAR has done, to people everywhere.
We’re all here together now, the friends and the foes,
We’ve all got something to tell you,
And this is how it goes.
The spark of life, in us ALL, was given us by God,
Who is man, to take it away, by gun, by knife, by rod?
I shook my head, I started to cry, I wondered if it was real.
I felt the pain of a million souls, my stomach had a chill.
I knew then, what it was, that made me come here now.
It hit me hard, those words I heard, and so I made this vow.
Ill do my best, to give the word, to everyone that listens,
When man makes war, and kills his brothers,
Rapes and plunders, and imprisons,
The final days up in Heaven, we are all together,
Right or wrong, no matter the cause, we are ALL linked,
Held by God’s sacred tether.

Author’s Note: I wrote this poem after my first visit to the wall in DC. It is being put to music.

Dana J. Brown: The Wall
Reflections at The Wall: Washington DC