Hero

HERO “As a boy you’ll go away to that far off distant war And you’ll come back a man Of which my son I’m so proud.” So off to this war I went To a place that I was sent ‘Twas in an Asian far off land, I was relishing childhood dreams, ‘Cause I was in footsteps following As third generation of the clan ‘Cause my dad and grand pop too, Had fought their fight In keeping country pride And in days gone by When marching on parade in Anzac Days For on their puffed out chests adorned Wearing campaign medals on left breast, To the sound of a big brass Salvos band All in tune and all in step Up St Kilda Road and onto the Shrine With their heads held high. And I as a kid felt proud When waving a Australian flag It was I with many others Men, women and children lined ten deep With spontaneous clapping and endless cheering They were acknowledging in coming as heroes Our lads and lasses victories. So today on verandah I sit and ponder Did I make my country proud? By patrolling and just being in A sticking hot Asian country, In jungle thick Where cicadas click, And no time for a shower Or other homely comforts As memories of a distant past, Each digger on tender hooks ‘Cause you never knew Just what lay ahead? But mate bloody hell! At a time back then I’d really kill for a coldie Or a ciggie would do, Then again at that time I was counting Only so many sleeps to go To be on that Vung Tau Ferry As she headed south But right then this little back duck With SLR at the ready I was hoping Charlie wasn’t around that day. But back home at that time From the land under A minority of skeptics Was doing their darndest To interrupt my war By spinning their implications Of what was not Going on in land called ‘Nam. But here was I Learning skills of hit and go And taking lessons From little men dressed in black Then blending in and melting Into a jungle thick Or carefully crossing Across a rice paddy muddy thick and wet. And when our Yankee dandy doodle friends Got involved with their napalm And their other sophisticated war machinery, I now look back in hindsight and wonder How easily could they have lost the plot? When all they were fighting Whom they considered? Were only farmers, peasants And other human beings Not some invincible skilled warring machines Who had learned the tricks and skills Of being at war For over a hundred years “As a boy you’ll go away to that far off distant war And you’ll come back a man Of which my son I’m so proud.”