"Sharing can be a way of healing. Grief and loss can isolate,
anger even alienate. Shared with others, emotions unite
as we see we aren't alone. We realize others weep with us."
~Susan Wittig Albert

Through our writing, we walk out of the darkness into the light
together, one small step at a time, recording history, educating
America, and we are healing. ~CJ/Todd Dierdorff



Sunday, August 31, 2014

Monsoon Delight: by Loyd Cates

Monsoon Season During Vietnam War







This is the peak of the monsoon season in South Vietnam. It is miserable in the jungle.












Monsoon Delight

by Loyd Cates

The rain is relentless day after day
Nothing you do keeps the ringworm away
Jungle rot eats at your crotch
All you can do is scratch and watch

You share your blood with the devious leech
They affix themselves where you can’t reach
While those nasty bastards suck you dry
The relentless rain conceals the sky

Just trying to eat becomes a chore
Go away rain, you relentless whore
The water flows like a flooded creek
I ain’t slept in a friggin’ week

Rusty gear will get you killed
Cleaning your rifle becomes a skill
But you better do it if you want to live
You only have one life to give

Big assed mosquitoes have one hell of a bite
They swarm your body both day and night
You do what you can just to endure
But they are a plague, that’s for damn sure

No matter how wet it’s always hot
This humid air is thick as snot
I am sick of this rain but it don’t matter
The mosquitoes and leeches just keep getting fatter

One of these days I will board that jet
Never again will my ass be wet
This relentless rain, months of it
Monsoon rain, I’m sick of this shit.











SSG Cates RVN '69-'70
199th Light Infantry Brigade D5/12


Also by Loyd Cates:

 “I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


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Posted by CJ Heck at 5:58 AM
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 31, 2014 at 5:28 PM

    Thank you Sergeant Cates. I can remember a period of 30 days in the early spring of 1969 when none of us in D/1/327/101 while on continuous operations in the field in I Corps were dry for moment, if at all, for a continuous 30 day period.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 1, 2014 at 7:12 AM

    LOL... I too swore i'd never set in the rain and get soaked again. Yet, once again, I was only kidding myself as I rode through a pounding rainstorm on my motorcycle one night in Georgia. At least there weren't any leeches this time. :-)
    Al 199th inf. 69-70

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