Belated Welcome Home to Vietnam Veterans
.by Kathy Hooper on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 7:15am.Where were the ticker tape parades when you came marching in,
There were no songs on radios about how you came home again,
There was not an internet and you barely found pay phones,
You stood in silent wonderment in the land that you called home.
There was nobody there to greet you with a flag held in their hand,
You even felt liquid mucus when spit on by other men,
Silently you wondered why you even bothered to cry,
Nobody seemed to care at the countless soldiers you watched die.
There was not a fancy greeting celebration for all the men you knew,
If soldiers shouted Johnny is marching home again,
Some ignorant person would simply reply with Johnny who,
There were no festivities or honors for all of your returning troops.
Nobody seemed to bother about the battles you had fought,
They never asked about your time away in a land time forgot,
People did not greet you with a handshake or with a hug,
Instead they only sneered at you or simply gave you a shrug.
The times they have changed and your children have grown up,
Now they greet soldiers at the gate with lots of warm love,
The lessons have been learned from your fight in foreign lands,
Stand tall soldiers make them see you really gave a damn,
You served your homeland proudly and by damn you fought in Vietnam!
K. E. Hooper
Hazel Green, AL
