The day he died, by me, 
Started like any other day.
He made sure his men were ready, 
Not knowing he was about to die. 

He checked each Marines rifle,
To be sure they were clean.
He checked everyone's ammunition,
To be sure we had enough.

That everyone had enough hand grenades,
Was checked off the list.
And map coordinates and frequencies,
Were checked and double checked.

The time came, MOVE OUT!
Was called by this leader of men.
And so it was, we moved out,
In this area we'd not patrolled before.

We had just moved south from Cua Viet,
This sandy area to us was new.
As we patrolled wearing our flak jackets,
He kept us on close watch.

As with all Marine team leaders,
Some liked him, and some did not.
But no one was prepared for him,
To step directly on that booby trap. 
 

©Ben Drake (1999)