Such Is Life To John Francis Hickey Poem by Francis Duggan

I knew him in my schoolgoing days he was the school strong boy
A sturdy well built youngster two years older than I
In tests of strenght in old school yard I never see him beat
The tops in pecking order in old school house at Millstreet.

Years later he flew the ocean and he proved himself a man
For America in battle in the jungles of Vietnam
And he survived the Vietnam bloodbath this Irishman from County Cork
And he returned as a hero to the city of New York.

He was honoured for his bravery in war he'd played his part
And he had proved himself in battle god blessed him with noble heart
He had fought against the Vietcong in the fight for Yankee pride
In the disease ridden jungle where so many Yankees died

He had returned as a hero from the jaws of earthly hell
Where so many of his comrades under Vietcong gunfire fell
From a war in troubled Asia that the Yanks had failed to win
A defeat that cost them billions with the loss of planes and men.

But lady luck ran out on him in New York far away
More than three thousand miles from where he spent his boyhood day
He died in his thirty eight year leuchaemia struck him down
And he came back in a casket back home to Millstreet town.

It grieved my heart the news of his death and I wished it were a lie
As he was far too good a man and much too young to die
But such is life and life can be hard and what must be must be
And only god himself can change the course of destiny.