Tonya Carson

WESLEY HOMER HARRIS JR

SP4 – E4 – Army – Selective Service
1st Field Force

21 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jun 18, 1948

From KILBOURNE, LOUISIANA

Length of service: 1 year

His tour of duty began on Dec 13, 1968

Casualty was on Nov 2, 1969 in
QUANG DUC, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY: BURNS

Body was recovered

Religion: METHODIST

Panel 16W – – Line 18Tonya has never won a poetry contest or been published but she lost a lot to the Vietnam War: her favorite Uncle Bud, Wesley Homer Harris Jr. Her life was forever scarred.

PAIN OF THE INNOCENT

Well, here we are; it is September
No one can tell me why the jets fly over:
If they did, I don’t remember.
I hear talk of war,
But you see, I am only four.
My Daddy said good-bye, and walked out the door.
It has been a long time;
I sure do miss that Daddy of mine.

I turned five today,
A man in a uniform came to our door.
We listened to what they had to say,
There were bombs all around,
And my Daddy’s Company was no where to be found.
I looked at those men with tears in my eyes
Asking Why? Please tell me why.
… My Daddy had to die?

Author’s Note: Tonya has a son who rides bulls, writes for her local Gazette and sells Avon, but one night she sat down and, with words that just seemed to come from somewhere inside, wrote “Pain of the Innocent”