PRIDE AND PAIN

My brother, Jim Baggett, was in Special Forces and served two tours in Nam. His poetry was often read over the radio in Kerrville and in San Antonio, TX. Now it is being read in Atlanta on "Mobie in the Morning." Jim writes poetry all the time. It is wonderful, and some of it is so funny that just thinking about it brings a chuckle during the day.

But this is the first time he has written about his feelings of the Nam War. This came after he saw the series with my daughters and me.

I am leaving my computer with him in the hopes that he will begin to communicate with you who understand. Please drop him a line.

His e-mail address is trubadore1@aol.com

Thanks,
Sally

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Editor's NOTE:

Sally Griffis is the Squad Leader of our site's first main section, "How This Page Started." She and her two grown daughters recently traveled to Nam (March-April 1997); and, among other places, went to the site where Sally's husband and the girls' father, Bill, was KIA during the War. Their trip was filmed and broadcast on TV. See the "A Visit To Vietnam" main section for the report and pictures of this fantastic journey.

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                   Pride and Pain
I remember my thoughts, of the immortal words 
Of JFK when he said,
"Ask not what your country can do for you, 
But what you can do for your country instead."

A feeling of pride welled up inside,
I knew what I must do;
To help my country, in a time of need,
So off to war I flew.

With unbridled trust and patriotic pride,
We answered your beck and call;
To face the ravages, of a war,
Ever knowing that we may fall.

When we came home, we stood alone,
We were not welcomed at all;
Our country turned it's back on us,
For answering it's beck and call.

The widows and children of our fallen friends,
What pain they must have felt;
To be all alone and without a home,
Left virtually to fend for themselves.

What more do you want, is my first response,
We have given our heart and soul;
We answered your call, most one and all,
To wars which have taken their toll.

We have left our homes, families and friends,
To fight your wars abroad;
There were promises made, if you will join today,
Of course, that was really fraud.

As I reflect, on those immortal words,
At what they really said;
"Give us your heart, your life, your limbs,
But grieve alone for your dead.

"You pay the price, for war alone,
That's not our burden to bear;
We're not responsible, for the pains of the past,
Nor do we really care."

Jim Baggett