Vietnam War Poem
April 3 and 10
Poem
Submitted and © 1997, by Terry Austin (RIP)
  377th SPS, Tan Son Nhut AB, 1965-1966
35th SPS, Phan Rang Air Base: 1970
(Sung to the tune of Sink the Bismarck)

The following poem/song was written by six Air Policemen after Tan Son Nhut Air Base
was attacked on April 13, 1966. I was one of the writers.
 

April 3 and 10

I never will forget the night that Tan Son Nhut was hit---"C" Flight was on duty then, we knew this was it. 

We hit the dirt and looked around with anxious waiting eyes, and said a prayer as mortars came raining from the skies. 

The Virgin boys of "C" Flight had never been to war, the thoughts of seeing action here, was very, very far. 

But on that night of April, April 3 and 10,

The Virgin Boys of "C" Flight deserved to be called men. 

The Mortars kept falling for what seemed an eternity, smoke and fire began to raise as far as the eye could see. 

But the men of "C" Flight held their ground, and tried with all their will to hold their weapons steady and their shaking hands still. 

Everyone was hoping that "Charlie" would be seen, but we all knew that the chance for this was mighty, mighty lean. 

For we knew that we were ready now, and feeling pretty mean, and our shaking nerves by now had grown a little more secure. 

And when it was all over and everything was calm, we realized that war here for us, had just began.

For on that night in April, April 3 and 10, the Virgin Boy's of "C" Flight deserved to be called men.