She used to pick me up when I fell

I would fall and she would hear me crying

And come running, with soft strokes and gentle words

And, very soon, It would all be ok

In basic training

My drill sargeant let me know

In no uncertain terms

That I was not at home with my "mommy" anymore

In fact, he let me know that the "cunt" I called mom

Was a "whore" and a "slut"

And I needed to leave her far behind

If I wanted to become a man

By the time I reached the war zone

I was really cocky

With my uniform and my gun

And my buddies talkin about bitches and hos

Oh, we strutted our stuff

We didn't let anyone see the fear inside

Not even ourselves

We were too tough for that

But, we still wrote our moms

And secretly wished that they were with us

Just in case we needed them

To come and pick us up

And then that dreaded day came

The one I tried not to think about

The one I never thought would happen to me

The day when hot pieces of shrapnel cut me up

That day, as the blood ran out and my body grew cold

And the light began to fade

The panic washed over me

And I had only one real desire

I wanted that angel, my sargeant called a cunt

To hear me crying

And come running, with soft strokes and gentle words

And I knew, that very soon, It would all be ok

But, she didn't come

And my buddies couldn't reach me

So, I just watched the blue sky turn black

And cried out one last word, "mommy!"

Jim Bush is a 67 year old, Vietnam-era veteran, currently living in Texas. He was raised in a military family. His father received the Silver Star for directing troops while under air attack at Clark Field in the Phillipines, survived the Bataan Death March, and spent three and a half years in a Japanese POW camp. He also received the Purple Heart for wounds received while a  POW. Jim served as an army photographer in Okinawa and Korea. In 1987 he traveled to the war zones of Nicaragua with a veteran's group dedicated to stopping the Contra War.