Jesse R. Edwards

AIRBORNE RANGER

I listened to the firefights like all the rest
It was about two clicks to the west
The Cong were coming and it wouldn’t be long
They were estimated to be about two thousand strong
The Medic said, “Looks like we’ll be busy tonight”
Like always I knew that Doc was right
Anticipation showed on the old troop’s face
And the young ones were in sort of a daze
Like machines everyone moved about
There was no confusion just an occasional shout
Some spoke of loved ones they left behind
While others prayed they wouldn’t lose their mind
I heard one pray for his expecting wife
And I heard another pray for his life
I heard one ask to see the light of day
Because tomorrow is his birthday
When the outposts returned to our protective wall
Out of forty men there were five alive in all
Thirty five men had met and answered their call
But before morning many more would fall
The Cong charged at us like banshees from Hell
The Captains command, “Fire” rang out like a bell
As lead and tracers filled the air everywhere
The smell of powder, the sound of steel,
and the smell of death filled the air
The noise was so loud that it ruptured the ear
but it helped drown the sounds of fear
Soon the sweat, urine, and blood
Turned the hard red clay to mud
Not one single troop left his place
Not one man went down in disgrace
The radio man got hit in the head
A wounded troop took his place, soon he too was dead
I watched as the Captain took his last breath
And surrendered himself to a restful death
Now not one officer was alive
And NCO’s numbered less than five
Help should arrive in an hour or two
But could we hold on with so few
Then to our backs the sun began to rise
To our front we got a pleasant surprise
The incoming rounds began to decrease
And it seemed that our outgoing was on the increase
Then the first shirt caught an incoming round
And was dead before he hit the ground
Soon a deadly silence came over us
Hearing only the dying moans and the jungle flies
For eight hours we held our ground
While Cong bodies piled up all around
After each battle would end
The heartbreaking work would then begin
Not five yards away Doc laid dead
While protecting a wounded man he was hit in the head
The expecting father would never see his child
He and three others lay lifeless in a pile
There would be no birthday party that day
That young man had half his head blown away
My sergeant’s face was a mass of disfigure
He died with his finger still squeezing the trigger
We lost more than two hundred men that night
I wonder how many the enemy lost in that fight
Now daylight didn’t bring a pretty sight
But we held off their overwhelming might
Every man there was trained to fight
And every man there did his job that night
Every man knew that the chances were high
That during the night he would die
And later his loved ones would cry
And ask the good Lord, “Why?”

Now thirty years have passed and I still thank God that when I was in danger
In combat, I was shoulder to shoulder with another Airborne Ranger