How Warm is Spring?
With a new snow on the ground
Not hearing a man made sound
A crisp wind blows through the trees
A whisper of spring caught upon the breeze
With sun so brightly shinning
A whisp of a cloud with a silver lining
The earth cries for a warming glow
For you are just poking your head through the snow.
Your yellow bonnet will soon be showing
While all the while you are steadily growing
How beautiful and peaceful your fragrance as that of a spring shower
Oh you beautiful March flower.
David R. Alexander
ã February 20, 2003  For those not yet born..........(Echo)
It is early Spring
and I walk the forest,
...hear the song
of a Green Girl
whispering.
Flowers,
and new leaves.
Birds nesting!
......warm thunder,
...wind
and cool rain.
In the silence , there is no war!
Just,
Wisteria,
...... climbing branches,
blazing upon the sky......,
high,
into tall trees.
The deep woods
hold on....
to every shade of green.
I wonder if the future will remember history?
How it must have looked..,
back then.
How beautiful!
when only the Tribes were here.
I hear the old songs, my child.
I wonder if all the blood that has been shed
will keep us together.
Keep us free!
©3/27/93 LJKlaiber
Elite Forces
Winter forces tire,
Advance guard has come.
Dressed in uniforms
of green and yellow...
Advancing waves of daffodils,
warriors battling Winter,
advancing the front of Spring
Reinforcements of robins
may begin to sing,
warming the air,
Winter,beware...
Faye Sizemore
ã ©2/21/03
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| COPYRIGHT THURMAN P.WOODFORK |
ã2/24/2003 THURMAN P.WOODFORK [WOODY] REMEMBERS TUDO AND SAM.........MONKEYS AND DOGS HAD IT ROUGH IN VIETNAM!!
Be careful how you talk about that monkey; Sam was a major. He even had his name on the sign at the entrance to the camp along with that of the camp commander, who incidentally, he outranked; the camp commander was only a captain. Tudo, the dog, was only a grunt private; dogs always get the dirty end of the stick. She certainly did more work than Sam did, since she was death on those over-sized rats that ran around the place. All you had to do was shout, "Tudo! Rat!" and point and she was off like a shot.
Pity the poor rodent she caught up with: a snap and a headshake and they were done in spite of the fact that some of her teeth were missing. One of the dirty little vermin bit her on the lip and the resulting infection caused her to loose a few teeth. Didn't dampen her enthusiasm one bit, though. Unfortunately, the only picture I have of her shows her in a rather compromising position with Major Sam, who apparently was unaware of the regs against consorting with subordinates. Not that he would have cared if he had known. I'm told that he also took a shot at John Wayne's ear after snatching off the Duke's rug. That was probably a lie, though, since I never saw a single celebrity the whole year I was there.
Tudo was great for the morale, go away for just a day, and when you came back, she was so happy to see you that she'd wet herself wagging her tail in welcome. Whenever the guys came back from patrol, they always made sure they all greeted her outside the buildings. The hooch maids weren't all that crazy about mopping up dog pee. Since they were usually gone for several days, Tudo had lots of greetings stored up.
Woody
She was black and white, marked like a pinto pony, and I think she was too big to be a terrier. I really don't know what she was besides canine and fast; she was the Vietnamese version of Heinz 57, I guess. A couple of guys wanted to bring her back to the States with them; but I have no idea what her ultimate fate was. I can't remember if she was still there when I came back to remove the radar in the Spring of '68. The Air Force departed Trang Sup a day or two after we removed the radar, and I understand that the SF troops turned the site over to the Vietnamese not too long after that.
Unless the Air Force or Special Forces people managed to somehow take her with them, I would imagine that she didn't survive their departure by many days. I'll have to ask Ray Holcomb; he was among the last Air Force people to leave Trang Sup and he was also on very good terms with the SF people, having previously done a tour in Viet Nam as a Marine grunt. Of course, the Air Force sent him back, lucky guy. He left the Marines for the Air Force in order to get into a technical career field, and shortly after tech school, Big Blue hustled him right back to 'Nam. Lovely people. All in all, the poor guy spent about four years in and around Viet Nam.
Dave Stevenson was also on the TDY with me, so he may remember whether Tudo was still on site when we were there. Dave's a supply type, and I hadn't seen before the TDY, and don't recall seeing him after I finally got back to the PI. Dave had the great good luck to be reassigned to Tan Son Nhut after we returned to Clark. I have a picture of him standing in the middle of a road toting an M-16 and wearing a rather large helmet; he was guarding something or other in Viet Nam. It's a great picture; I've threatened to use it as blackmail if he ever gets on my wrong side. Lord knows what prompted him to trust me with it.
©Woody
 On Hill Such and Such~Vietnam 1968
In Quest of The Doughnuts
After midnight,a handful of Marines
now picture if you will these scenes
Forced by the tempting smell of doughnuts
to crawl through the mud on their bellies
under the canvas of the mess tentwent these brave soldiers in greens
It was the fullfillment of a dream
in the most daring and bravest of plays
hardly anyone had ever seen
Been in the bush for two days
Oh,the horrors of war!
Couldn`t wait anymore
Slithering up the hill with the sentries in sight
hands in the tent did pass the sheets of delight
to the waiting eager Marine`s on the outside
Passed them safely from one to the other
even though it was darkest night
not a one was lost from their sight
Thank God for their training!
With a thought of no other
it was brother for brother
Back at the hooch ,hungry hands filled
and the delights quickly went out of sight
Pats on the back for the bravest patrol
There was lots of happy munching and smiles
and telling of stories of doughtnuts of old
Returned the baking sheets and the deed was done
full of sweet doughnuts,they were soothed
just one more memory to add to their past
Mission condoned and highly approved...
for they were ordered to the bush
.............................. before breakfast!
©Faye Sizemore 3/12/03 
Till I Die
I think that as the days go by
Maybe I should have stopped more often just to say hi.
Always in a hurry to grow up
Never taking time to take a drink from lives cup.
Ive had a pretty good life
Blessed with children and a wonderful wife.
One thing that I was missing
Something hard to define and no one listening.
My wife and so called friends
Tried to understand the plight I was in.
In the past year or so
Ive found more peace and friendships that grow.
One may curse the internet
But one thing sure and on this you can bet.
I have found friends that may not always agree
But they seem to always to be there for me.
To name names might not be right
But as I sit here tonight,
Only seem fair that I should say
What a list like Tony, Buck, Subs, Eileen, Ruby, and Faye.
Now before you get upset, let me finish with my list
There is Mouse, Snake, Mark, Per, and yes Becky is on the list.
Chris, Woody, Cal, EE and still there are more
There is Rhea, Larry, Nancy,and Stacey all of which I adore.
Now as I come down to the last but not least,
There is Ray, Gary, and Randy and a few that are now deceased.
If per chance I left you out, it was a mistake not meant to be
For I cherish you all and will till I die, dont you see.
©David R. Alexander
April 14, 2003
All Rights Reserved
 Ah, the joys of the Golden Years: I went down to have my car inspected (it was the last possible day because of the cancer repair job keeping me from sitting in lines) and with my usual luck, discovered that the line ran five and one half blocks! This was at six o'clock in the morning. I figured it was just the guv'mint employees trying to get their cars done before work, and decided to try another facility or come back later in the day. Turns out that only one inspection station is presently in operation for the entire city, so I came back at 11:30 and lo, the line was now six and one half blocks long. I think some of the same people were still there, waiting stoically. Some may have even given birth there rather than lose their place.
With a sigh, I went to the end of the line and fell in, watching my gas gauge slowly creep counter-clockwise as time passed. After about two blocks, I was about to make a right turn in line, but stopped to leave the pedestrian crosswalk clear. As the line started to lurch forward again the gap between me and the car in front widened and another car whipped around the corner and pulled in front of me. There were two young anthropoids in it. My brother Stanley was with me, and he tensed up, waiting for the eruption, but I fooled him. I just sat behind the wheel as though nothing had happened. As we crept forward, he kept watching me out of the corner of his eye while making conversation. I, however, had a plan.
To make a long story short, after the line of cars had crept, snail-like, about another block and a half, one of the officers from the inspection station came along checking the cars for something or other, and I told Stanley to call him. When he came over, I explained to him that the two humanoids ahead of me had cut into line, and he said he'd take care of it, then he asked how old I was. I said I was sixty-eight, and he called the inspection station on his two-way and asked if there was any room for a Senior Citizen at the head of the line. The answer was in the affirmative, and he said, "Blue Buick heading your way," and told me to go to the front of the line. I thanked him and took off; as I was turning the corner, I saw him waving the interlopers out of line.
My plan had been to wait until we had reached the head of the line and then have the two simians ejected, after they'd sat in line as long as I had. However, the driver kept gunning his motor, and the fumes were about to asphyxiate me, so I put the plan into action early when the officer approached my car. Hence the joys of being a Senior Citizen; I got to go to the head of the line, and had two miscreants get their just deserts without raising my blood pressure. I also passed the inspection, in case you were interested, and don't have to go back until April 2005.
©4/16/03 Thurman P.Woodfork  East Bound And Down
hide yer daughters
lock up yer booze
gonna stir up the waters
no time to snooze
get stupid and crazy
and with bros reminisce
till our eyeballs go hazy
with vinegar and piss
though we can't party till dawn
and we're slower than some
we'll drink till its gone
Kokomo...here we come!
to the beer....CHARGE!!!
Randy
9/18/03
Randy Richmond
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