When Darkness Falls
BRAVO! supporter Barry Hart wrote this poem about his friend and Marine, Earl Wayne Harris, who was killed at the Siege of Khe Sanh in February of 1968. Barry wrote the poem after he saw the film at the screening in Memphis, Tennessee.
When Darkness Falls
When darkness falls
Thoughts of yesteryear
Bring fear to once
An undisturbed mind.
Choppers call to take
The wounded and dead.
Pain reaches out
In the screams
From faces
Of fallen Marines.
Crickets sing
The melody of war.
Leeches cling
Sucking the blood
That oozes
From each wound.
Hammers drop
Sending missiles along
To tear the flesh
From innocent men.
Flares ignite
Pointing the way
To victory or death.
Body counts tell
The real story.
Success is measured
Not by the ground
We take,
But by the number
Of ears we clip.
Medal-chested
Warriors in green;
Are what they call
The 26th Marines.
But we knew each one
As brother.
Each path, each trail
We walk with men
As we say good-bye
Again and again.
‘Neath the ground
At Beaver Dam
Near Buchanan
In Tennessee;
Across the road
From his home
Lies one such man
Who was my friend
And brother,
And one fine Marine!
By Barry Hart
August 2012
©2012 Barry Hart
My favorite images were “choppers call to take the wounded and the dead” and “medal-chested warriors in green.” Thank you, Barry, for this big-hearted eulogy.
Ruth, thanks for your kind comments. Many of our boys left home during this time. Some died in Vietnam while some died in Canada. It is the memory of those fallen battlefield-heroes that drives us to create lasting tributes, such as Bravo. Ken and Betty orchestrated a masterpiece. All I can do is record how I feel and give tham a great big ooorah!