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I Call Him Brother
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I Call Him Brother |
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William P Bussey Member
since 2000-02-26
Posts 188 |
I must preface this, this is a real person, and I located him 47 years after I last saw him, we are great friend. I CALL HIM BROTHER They said his name was Larry, a grubby, dirty little man, He looked up when I drew near, then back to his c-ration can. I dropped my pack and sat down beside him, glad to get a rest, He looked at me with eyes that asked, I wonder if he can stand the test. My name's Bill I said, waiting for him to speak I lit a smoke, He looked at me for a moment, then with a grin he spoke. Hi he said, my names Hershkowitz, that going to be ok with you? I looked back at him and said, sure, what else could I do? The squad was short handed, two fire teams instead of three, Four men to a team, but this is only about Larry and Me. You see, there were thousands of men over there, This about how a Irishman and a Jew, became a pair. For eleven months in that forsaken land, we did what only young men can, And during those long hard days, I learned to love that, grubby, dirty little man. I have many pictures of the two of us, Mutt and Jeff was what we were named, But I see him most clear,holding a dead friends hand,crying unashamed. We finally came home, he a month before I, And one of the harder things I have ever done, was tell him goodbye. I tried to be macho, but I could hardly speak, my emotions played hell with my plan, I could only watch as he walked away, that wonderful, grubby, dirty little man. |
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| © Copyright 2000 William P Bussey - All Rights Reserved | |||
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childomine Senior Member
since 2000-01-25
Posts 818st. petersburg, FL |
Bill, you have shown honor to your friend, Larry, with your words. Your poem brings into focus the nightmarish things that took place and, the strength drawn from friendship hued within the wastelands of hell. Bravo!! [This message has been edited by childomine (edited 03-01-2000).] |
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Little_Spyro Senior Member
since 2000-01-09
Posts 659San Diego, CA, USA |
If there was ever a poem about friendship and respect... You did a wonderful job here, Bill! I can almost see you two together, you did such a great job with the emotion and imagery in this...  Little Spyro T. Dragon P.S. What's a C-ration can? |
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William P Bussey Member
since 2000-02-26
Posts 188 |
A c-ration is what we (back in the old days) called food, It was left over from World War 11, Simply a meal in a can, about the size of a can of beans, which by the way was one of the best rations we got, it was with chunks of franks, we called it Duh, beans and franks, it was the best, there were some really bad ones, bill |
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Janet Marie Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554 |
very nice bill, a love and respect filled tribute to oyur old friend...how excellent you found him! jm Now for me some words come easy But I know that they don't mean that much Compared with the things that are said when lovers touch You never knew what I loved in you I don't know what you loved in me Maybe the picture of somebody you were hoping I might be... Jackson Browne *I miss you baby... I love you...always. |
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
Wonderful poem, Bill! Denise |
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Mystykyl Junior Member
since 2000-02-28
Posts 32 |
this is a sweet poem. im glad u were able to write about him. misty |
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Gene Senior Member
since 2000-01-23
Posts 935Colorado, USA |
I am really glad I came back to the Pub. There's an awful lot of new people with a lot of great talent. Bill, you are definitely one of them. Your poems are wonderful. I wrote a poem a while back in Open #5 called "The Fork in the Road (A Soldier's Lament)" that I think you can relate to. You can do a search on it, if you're interested or I can e-mail it to you if you like. Keep writing, looking forward to more. ~Gene |
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William P Bussey Member
since 2000-02-26
Posts 188 |
Thank you very much Gene, You, like all the others here, are very kind to this old man, I will look up your poem, Just a note re; this one, I have written many things, This is my all time favorite, and to make it so much better, I finally located Larry, and we have had some great visits, he is still the same, only now he is "clean" |
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