A Day On Artillery Hill

 

 

The days in Vietnam were never exactly the same,
About half the days I was in country it did rain
This poem follows a somewhat typical day on the Hill.
A lot of days,  guard duty would also be on the till.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

A Day On Artillery Hill

 

.

It’s 0200 hours, and the loud woof of incoming rockets I do hear.
So I head straight for the big bunker in full combat gear.
They sound the all clear, and I go to my hootch to get some rest.
The 10 inch guns are firing out, trying to hit old Charlie, I guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

The artillery keeps firing out real loud for about a full hour.
They tear up the suspect terrain watching from the hill tower.
But by now the VC with the rocket launchers are likely long gone.
The silence sets in, and I finally drop off to sleep to a stereo tune.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

,

I wake up at 0500 hours,and there’s a huge rat on my chest,
I sling him at the wall, and he just runs away, a mean looking pest.
I get up, and brush the fresh rat turds off the sheets on my bunk
And head for the showers with soap and a towel around my trunk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

There is no hot water, so I get all chilled as I wash the stink off me.
I walk back the block to our hootch and get dressed quickly.
My maid named Han picks up my boots and dirty clothes to clean,
And I stop by the 3 holer to drop a big load like you’ve never seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

I arrive at the Helicopter Air Section not feeling too sprite.
And there are four mechanics waiting for helicopter parts in sight.
The parts I did issue, then completed paper work to replace them.
We had to clean up because some general is on the way in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

At 1200 hours, I headed for Holloway To pick up new parts.
I drove through Pleiku in combat gear dodging the local carts.
When I get there, I see a rocket has blown up the parts house
Nothing inside was left undamaged, not even a little mouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Back to Artillery Hill I went with no new replacement parts.
When I got back, an officer going on R&R was ready to start.
So I drove back to Holloway with him in the passengers seat,
I dropped him at the airport and returned to the hill just beat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

I make a run to the PX to pick up cigarettes and Budweiser beer.
A carton cost a dollar and the beer costs ten cents a can here.
I drop off the stuff at the hootch, and head back to the air field
To finish my paperwork and see what the remaining day will yield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

At 1900 hours, I head for the NCO club to get a steak well done.
I cut it open to make sure there are no maggots in this one.
It looks good so I eat the steak, salad, and a baked potato,
They have a Vietnamese band there and they’re ready to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

The band starts with CCR song, ” Looking Out My Back Door.”
They sucked really bad and I just couldn’t stand anymore.
So I left out the door and went back to my hootch to hit the sack.
I undressed, laid down, closed my eyes, and never looked back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

By Bill

 

.

Thanks for reading A Day On Artillery Hill,
Bill