The Soundtrack of War

"The soundtrack is unique in the fact that it was recorded on a small battery powered boxy cassette recorder that was simply activated as we were in a bunker in a base camp near the city of Tay Ninh. I’m sure there was pot and alcohol involved. Down time like this was a time to let loose."

“We were going to entertain ones that were alive but they were totally burned.”

“Alert, alive. Alert, alive. No safe place. No safe people. One man sat on the dirt floor against a pole, M-16 across his abdomen, his face a dead, black-eyed stare. On a boom-box next to him played a song by John Lennon, "Happiness is a Warm Gun." When a year later I returned to the land of shadows, I brought the stink back with me.”

"When I went to work I didn't do any drugs except the night Jimi Hendrix died. I heard it via AFVN radio while on Post. We were not supposed to have a radio on Post but, everyone did."

“I am a songwriter who has the utmost respect for our veterans past and present for giving us the freedoms that we have. I am especially tied to Vietnam Vets for they are of my generation. I can't imagine how hard it would be to have served in Nam and come to this place or know someone who is on The Wall.”

"At that time I was orphaned and devastated. I missed my parents. So, when I saw others playing the flute, I wanted to learn how to play it to express my sorrow.”

“The song sadly asks, “my brother, do you still feel the pain even though your eyes have died”? These are very heavy words for me when I hear the song, and remember a wonderful Montagnard friend who suffered a horrible wound on Chi Ro Bu. This song always brings a tear to my eye.”

“If you remember Arlo Guthrie's song "Alice's Restaurant", you’ll remember that there was a rule that if you had an arrest record, you had to see a psychiatrist at the draft physical. I did have an arrest record at civil rights and antiwar demonstrations. So when they told me an induction order would be sent to me soon, I said I had an arrest record and I wanted to see the shrink! There were 2 clerks in the room at the time, an elderly man and a young woman. The man asked what I was arrested for. I said “protesting the damn war.”

“I suggested to the Drug Education Teams that they start with the song “Sister Morphine” by the Rolling Stones. They could perhaps discuss the lyrics and then try to start a presentation about the risks of using heroin.”