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by Gary Jacobson © 2001
Out under Vietnam’s killing moon, The song of napalm Comes disrupting all tranquil calm. Comes a disquieting ultimatum Singing songs of military dictum At the dawn of destruction. Sighing, Whining, A sad ballad of imminent obliteration In complete illumination, Napalm’s sudden, fiery conflagration, Brings all abiding annihilation. Raining death from the sky A sound making all humanity cry, A nation sigh, As people die... Mid lightning and billowing smoke All life below, inexorably choke. How can man Do this to a man?
Is so hard to kill For commanders body count quotas to fill. He's either too dug in Or moving too fast, Filtering through the high jungle grass, Or hiding in jungles overcast. So temptation conflicts our leaders Between victory rational Or victory at all costs irrational. And when good and evil balance Good doesn’t always stand a chance. Not in war’s horror daze, Where war elicits its own kind of craze! For every moment the war is prolonged Charley got stronger. Yet for every moment the war's prolonged, America’s will to fight got weaker.
Of charley's close at hand demolition. Rear echelon generals call for repeat, When one victory upon another Makes this rollicking war replete. Washington's fat cat politicians Get all in a dithering bind Watching Nam's war unwind. From their cat-bird seat, Far and away from the jungle heat. For this cruel war is a bafflement, An out-and-out befuddlement. For where successes are compounded More success is demanded. And more, and more and more... Louder come the protester's jeer, Bring our boys-next-door back here! Put an end to this foul, evil war, For which our goody-two-shoes abhor! While Charley is content To play the waiting game. Opposing the world's mightiest power His greatest claim to fame, Patiently sitting back Eating a rice treat, Enjoying his sweet-and-sour dog meat Like he’s on R&R, Instead of fighting contentious conflict Called war. This drove American officers so mad. Like to explode so awful bad. So they opted a jungle to defoliate The very jungle leaves eradicate. Agent Orange only kills leaves So VietCong will pack up and go, In great wisdom they reasoned so. But napalm in one fell swoop Wipes out not only the forest, But kills for good a cantankerous foe. To kill VC hiding therein We must incinerate them, Pig after pig, Cow after cow, Man by man, Village after village till, so long, They're dead and gone.
Then and only then can we find any peace. Then and only then can we end this bloodletting. Then and only then can we start the forgetting. Then and only then can we start the healing.
It's pure, inhuman profanity. We blow Vietcong to kingdom come With inanity. Then we search for them, We lie to them, We say we hope they don't die, Though their skin with napalm We did fry. We hospitalize them. We patch them up with a band-aid And pat ourselves on the back For acts of humanity made. While generals marvel at chemical science, Men unleash upon men death's essence. Such an insignificant word remiss, Napalm cannot begin Its meaning to encompass For the uneducated remiss, Describe devastation of war’s fatal kiss, A war Leaving permanent scars of injustice In body, minds and souls Eternally striving for acceptance. Everything’s gone in inferno white-heat. Napalm destroys everything that lives In less than a heartbeat, The Killing so neat And so indiscreet. The song of napalm is so utterly, Impersonally Lacking of human responsibility, Devoid of personal involvement Breeding only carnal excitement. Just a whisper till exploding A moment of horrendous thunder rocking, Then you’re gone, Sent to another world As the napalm sings its devastating song Wiped out to breathe no more, To live no more, So vicious, So injudicious... So much like mortal man!  If you approve of this site, please show your approval by clicking above graphic... which will enter your vote for "Vietnam Picture Tour," as a top military site! with more action graphics and Pictures
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