Through The Eyes of a Vet : Roy Lee

I feel myself constantly grasping for air,
my young, defenseless lungs shut tight.
I can remember once saying life wasn't fair,
I now realize that it might.

In my twenties, I should have been considered a hero,
respected cause of Vietnam.
Of course some years later or so,
this life on earth as I knew it would be gone.

Throughout war people talked of Agent Orange,
chemical used for enemy Jap.
During a time which gave me strength and courage,
now the cause for my lifeless nap.

The fact that I smoked 'till my very last day,
did cause harm to my damaged lung.
Yet, now they have given up I can say,
The song of life for me has sung.

Never being referred to as the hero,
shamed and marked as result instead.
War is hiddeous, blame me though?
I stood for freedom- my heart blead!

I wrote this years ago. It is a piece I did in the memory of a loving and dear Uncle, whom I watched suffer tremendously from the after effects of Agent Orange. He may not have been a hero to those in the sixties, but he is a hero to me for all the pain he endured fighting for a country that turned their backs on him. This is a work in progress, I want to fix it so that it is not so juvenile.