Across the Sea
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Across the Pacific Ocean
Vietnam’s the spot
Ten thousand miles from you
The spot that God forgot.
We work, we sweat,
It’s more than we can stand
We’re not supposed to be convicts
But defenders of our land.
We’re members of U.S. Armed Forces
Getting very little pay
Defending people with millions
For a lousy two and a half a day.
Living with our memories
Waiting to be with our gals
Hoping all the while
They haven’t married our pals.
Nobody knows we’re living
Nobody gives a damn
At home we are forgotten
We belong to Uncle Sam.
When we die and go to heaven
We’ll hear St. Peter yell
Let the boys from Vietnam through,
For they spent their time in hell.
Hundreds of poems, letters and other testimonials, written and unwritten, have been left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. The poem above was left, unsigned, on or shortly after Memorial Day, May 25, 1987.
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