Korean Memories

The sergeant said I was a topnotch shot,
Sent to Korea, a special rifle I there got,
Highly polished, with a fine sight,
With special dumdum bullets amply supplied,
A sharpshooter, I sat in foliage-hidden hills,
At year's end I had one hundred ten
Officially confirmed and certified kills,
The captain pinned a ribbon on my chest,
Called me a fine new American,
And said of all the shots he knew,
I certainly was the best,
Years have passed since I left the Korean hills,
Forgotten are my malaria chills,
But often, at night, I wake up in my bed,
And in my mind's eye,
I see all those dead.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 2005 Alfred Charasz