Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Some memories persist,
Resist forgetting,
Forever pestering,
Me to remember
Something I’d rather forget.

In a swampy expanse,
In pursuit of the enemy,
We walked beside each other,
As we swept toward a
Looming confrontation.

Not knowing his name,
But knowing his presence,
In a palpable atmosphere
Of expectation, of fear,
A finger on the trigger.

And in an instant,
Shots are flying
Past my head or raising geysers
In the knee-deep swamp,
Shots fired in desperation
By the cornered enemy,
Choosing death over surrender,
Fired until our bullets
Left them sprawled in bloody poses,
Left them mutilated and silent.

In that instant of terror,
The one beside me is falling,
Falling in that relaxed way
Being shot renders one
Limp and collapsing.

Without hesitation,
amid the chaos,
focused only on helping,
On preventing him sinking  
Into death in the water,
I cradle him, crouching,
Pulling him closely,
A wound in his chest,
Green fluid seeps from his lips,
Whites of his eyes only visible,
Strange noises escaping his
Unconscious mouth,
The death rattle imminent.

His name was Danny Gray,
I found him years later,
Searching The Wall,
Knowing the day he died
And his unit,
Company C,
Second Wolfhounds,
Knowing fate, that morning,
Left me still another day,
And still another memory.