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By John Henningson

VA Medical Center--West Haven, CT

It's not a question of WHERE,

and HOW doesn't really matter.

WHAT is also meaningless,

but WHEN can make nerves tatter.

Will it be in a rice paddy,

wading through the muck

or on a dark jungle trail? 

It's just a matter of luck.

Will it be a booby trap

or an errant Arty blast?

It really always ends the same,

as long as it is fast.

For in 'Nam,

death became a certainty,

an acceptable turn of fate.

The end was always with us

whether now or at a later date.

So WHEN can became the nagging ache,

the darkness in our brain.

The uncertainty debilitates

and could turn a man insane.

But once you accepted that uncertainty,

you could push it all aside.

You could drive on, do your best

and face each day with pride.