It isn't typically (if ever) a recipient of the Medal of Honor can be a printed poet. However retired Inexperienced Beret John Duffy turned his trial-by-fire into an epic poem of the Vietnam Warfare.
It was a brutal battle; no quarter requested, none given.
You killed the enemy or the enemy killed you.
CBS Information nationwide safety correspondent David Martin requested Duffy, "A lot of troopers have written memoirs about their time in fight. You selected to write down poetry. Why?"
"I wished to color the image of the motion and a panorama of the fight there," he replied.
It is referred to as "The Battle for 'Charlie,'" the title of a fireplace base blocking the North Vietnamese invasion route into the central highlands at the beginning of their 1972 Easter offensive. Duffy was the lone American advisor to a battalion of South Vietnamese paratroopers despatched to carry Hearth Base Charlie.
Be courageous my comrades.
What else can we do?
There is no such thing as a escape.
Kill or die is our destiny.
"It seems like getting in you knew this was a battle to the dying," stated Martin.
"We got orders to struggle to the dying," Duffy replied.
In his poem, Duffy imagines the orders the North Vietnamese commander gave his troops:
"The massive American with the radio on his again,
I would like him killed, he's controlling the plane.
He's attacking our anti-aircraft and artillery weapons.
He strikes typically. Goal him! He have to be destroyed!"
Martin stated, "That antenna was like a 'kill me' signal."
"Plus, I used to be 6'2", and the Vietnamese are sometimes about 5'6"," Duffy stated.
The air strikes he referred to as in had been the one factor holding badly-outnumbered South Vietnamese troops from being overrun.
The battle raged backwards and forwards.
The dying and wounded moaning softly,
Despair and harm are widespread:
Is that this glory?
Martin stated, "That is an excellent query: Is that this glory?"
"Is that this glory? No, it was a fight," stated Duffy.
"All through this poem, you do not appear to have any hatred of the enemy?"
"No, no. They had been combating for what they believed in. We had been combating for what we believed in. And that is the essence of warfare."
Calling in all the things from B-52 bombers to helicopter gunships, Duffy and his troops held out for so long as they may.
Nobody may've anticipated extra from them.
Nothing extra will be finished, besides to save lots of them.
"I am staying with you, you want cowl,
We're a group, we have now fought collectively
And if want be we'll die collectively.
Which may be the price of saving our troopers."
Loss of life's second is close to,
I can really feel its flame.
Quickly it will likely be right here,
It appears unusual no extra.
Martin stated, "Unusual no extra. So, principally you had accepted the truth that you had been going to die?"
"It was getting a bit dicey!" Duffy replied.
"It looks as if, getting in, your place was not survivable."
"I believe most likely so, however I used to be by no means fearful in the entire battle."
In a recording, Duffy (name signal: Dusty Cyanide) talks to the plane coming to his rescue.
"My state of affairs is I bought 37 personnel. Each time we have broke out attempting to go away right here, we bought fired upon."
One pilot informs him he's low on gas and has to go away. "No sweat, man," Duffy replies. "You probably did an excellent job. Subsequent time I see you I owe you a giant bottle of scotch."
"Copy that."
Of the 471 males dedicated,
I got here out after two weeks of intense battle
with 36 surviving,
most of them had been wounded.
Duffy began writing the poem per week later, and has been including to it ever since.
Nobody received on "Charlie";
Both sides managed to lose.
Then, he sums up his personal profession, beginning as a 17-year-old non-public and ending as a significant with 4 fight excursions.
I suppose I did nicely:
Not having gone to Hell.
Properly sufficient to earn the nation's highest honor – and stay to write down poetry about it.
For more information:
- Main John J. Duffy (military.mil)
- Main John J. Duffy (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)
- "The Battle for 'Charlie'" by John J. Duffy, in Commerce Paperback and eBook codecs, out there through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
Story produced by Mary Walsh. Editor: Ed Givnish.
Extra on the Warfare in Vietnam:
- The Tet Offensive ("Sunday Morning")
- A promise fulfilled: Filming a narrative of heroism in battle ("Sunday Morning")
- The misplaced platoon: Aftermath ("Sunday Morning")
- A warfare photographer's rediscovered pictures from Vietnam ("Sunday Morning")