Back In 1968
Back In 1968
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It was in the year 1968,
This young soul had no goal.
But I was headed for war,
As the Packers won the Super Bowl.
.
At the White House conference on crime,
While dining with Lady Bird.
Eartha Kitt denounced the War.
But, alas, I never got the word.
.
A B-52 crashed with nuclear bombs,
And became the “Thule Affair”,
But the noise was quiet at Parris Island,
And I was unaware.
.
North Korea seized the Pueblo,
Snow on the rifle range made it hard to see.
Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In,
Made their debute on NBC.
.
War for profit paid the bills.
No-one said it was too expensive.
The Viet Cong attacked the embassy,
And the NVA made Tet Offensive.
.
Nguven Van Lem is executed by Nguven Ngoc Loan,
Swaying public opinion against the war.
And the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”,
Was really Eric Clapton’s solo guitar.
.
I was going to war with black brothers,
Yet they couldn’t bowl with whites.
Blacks back there in Orangeburg,
Were being killed with no civil rights.
.
But it was from Madison, Wisconsin,
To the university at Chapel Hill,
All our rights were lacking,
But to die or kill against our will.
.
Our nerve gas springs a leak,
At Dugway Proving Ground.
But these, too, were guiltless sheep,
The innocence makes it more profound.
.
First there’s a tiny fib,
Then there’s a little white lie.
And before we know it,
We’re all caught in a big My Lai.
.
Some soldiers serve their country,
Heroes don’t always understand.
A trail of blood led from Washington.
There were riots across the land.
.
Congress repealed the Gold Standard.
Lyndon Johnson won’t run again.
I guess this sets the stage,
For Richard Nixon to slither in.
.
2001: A Space Odyssey,
Was released in Washington, DC.
Then Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Was murdered in Tennessee.
.
Apollo 6 is launched.
Black Panthers and Police have a bout.
A double explosion in Richmond, Indiana,
Takes forty-one people out.
.
LBJ signs the Civil Rights Act.
The musical “Hair” opens on Broadway.
The Beatles create Apple Records,
The Catonville Nine use napalm in May.
.
The Nuclear sub Scorpion,
Sinks with ninety-nine men,
Robert Kennedy is murdered,
Much to the world’s chagrin.
.
The Phoenix Program is born.
From what ashes did it arise?
Torture that tortures a man’s soul?
And the Eagle blinded its own eyes.
.
James Anderson wins the Medal of Honor.
Nixon and Humphrey go toe to toe
Women protest Miss America.
The feminist movement begins to grow.
.
“60 Minutes” debuts on CBS.
The Detroit Tigers win the “Series”.
Jackie Kennedy marries Onassis,
The photographer just said, “cheese”.
.
Mexico City had a Black Power Salute!
America had a Jimi Hendrix experience.
And the soldiers in Vietnam,
Were neck deep in their inconvenience.
.
Peace talks are held in Paris,
While Laos is bombed with a thousand tons.
Operation Commando Hunt,
Is giving us all the runs.
.
But there were many operations,
So many battles without a name,
As thousands of angry football fans,
Protest the interrupted “Heidi Game”.
.
Elvis makes a comeback.
The Zodiac Killer takes his shots.
Thanksgiving finds me in An Hoa,
With the curse of the Ho Chi Minh trots.
.
Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, Will Anders,
See the far side of the Moon.
And I’m eating Christmas Eve C-rations,
Like a typical Bill Mauldin Cartoon.
.
But I can’t recall where I was.
Nor is there a memory of what I ate.
But I remember I just wanted to go back home,
Back in 1968.
.
.
~Micky Dee~
…12-25-13…
.
I can see most all of the possibilities. At times I have not believed in God myself. At times the only "god" has been an impish god, a warring god, an uncaring god. But I have been imprisoned and in solitary confinement and whether there is a merciful "God", the benevolent God or not - I have to believe in more than I see, even more than I believe. I have to believe in the science of "God". "For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction." We can call the "wind" by a lot of different names.
~Micky Dee~
…12-25-13…
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