A War Damaged Man Poem by Francis Duggan

An ageing ex soldier in his late fifties and one might say a war damaged man
He fought in conflict in southern Asia against the Vietcong in Vietnam
In a war where heroes were forgotten and Vietnam scarcely mentioned today
And history never written by the losers it's the winners write history they say.

I meet Jimmy down at the local he has a strong liking for beer
But of his time in Vietnam in the late sixties so little from him I do hear
Though he once told me in Vietnam we were the losers and the losers in war do not count
And sad to think my contribution to nothing did seem to amount.

He left the army without counselling and though an honourable discharge he received
He has lost all respect for authority and by the Government he feels deceived
He turned to alcohol for solace and in life he feels he has never won
And to booze he lost the woman who loved him and with her she took their young son

And that was back in the late seventies and he has not seen them for years
And he does not look to the future and for the past he does not have tears
He fought in South Asia in the sixties against the Vietcong in Vietnam
And my heart goes out to poor Jimmy since he is a war damaged man.