MACHINES OF WAR

How could we have lost


the war with machines


That ruled the land


and sky

The vietcong, vietminh

and the NVA

Had nothing but

a reason for to die

We had 3 tanks on patrol

they had hootched up with

us the night before

The next morning they started

their engines

there was a mighty roar

They traversed their


turrets knocking trees down


making a terrible din


With so much noise and


lack of discipline


we just had to win

We escorted the tanks

onto the hard baked padi

fields and started looking

for a large enemy cache

The exact location we

didn't know only that

it was by the padi field

next to a well worn track

We walked all morning

till mid afternoon

sitting ducks we had been

all the way

We met the Aussies and

they took over and

walked just a 100 yards

that day

The enemy had seen

us coming and had

prepared his ambush well

When the ambush broke

two tanks went down six

soldiers dead

They had walked straight

into hell

The Company rose

ready to fight

But we were told to

Stay where we were

We watched as the



Aussies got the



shit kicked out of



them and our tears



made our eyes blur

Aircraft came and bombed

the position




We weren't happy not


to assist

By the time things




settled down a Truce


was effected


And the large cache


we had missed

Huey Cobra

One day we saw a Huey Cobra coming straight

towards our position

So low it was we saw their sign thumbs down

we were the enemy was their decision

The radio op tried to raise help

while the cobra flew to and fro

Their dance of death drew other cobras to bare

we had nowhere else to go

There was a flap of a shirt a flash of sweaty

white skin our cover broken we were


all scared



To clearing two men went beating

their chests and with the

shirts they formed NZ

Satisfied with our ID the Cobra

hovered and dipped its nose

And the pilot gave a wave of good

cheer

The Cobra gracefully turned and

off it flew Thank goodness that was an almighty scare

Of the machines of war the old

Iroquois was the work horse

being used for every imaginable thing

But its nobility lay it would go

any where for the wounded the

dead and the living

In the Dat one day the word came down


a hot extraction had all gone wrong


A Soldier was last seen dangling from


from a rope the chopper he never got upon















The Company rose and with speed

the Iroquois took us to the spot

There were gunships galore

covering the area

where our man was lost
































But alas we were too late

for the warrior was already

dead

We gathered our comrade

and took him home

and with sadness

we bowed our heads

Iroquois Gunships

The Iroquois gunships would always


give their support with rockets and

the gatlin mini

They would fly back and forth

where they could

Songs of death with each

pass they were singing

And then there were the C47s

with mini guns on each side

Such a formidable aircraft

support they were

The Troops had named them

wth pride

Puff The Magic Dragon

flew during the day

While Spooky came only

at night.

With the tracer and high

rate of cyclic fire

Red ribbons of death swept

the earth such was a

Majestic sight

There were other machines APCs

Artillery Chinooks Jets Spotters B52s

All had there part to play

Even the USS New Jersey was there

Firing salvos from across the Bay

So now we must pay tribute to the

men who worked their

machines with pride

The Honour and Glory which is

always theirs for their unflinching

support and courage that kept

most of us alive

RW Hamon
(copyright)








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