Police - Ben Theodor, New Guinea Police Poem by Paul Warren

The ambush happened on Bouganville
With the rebels being the real deal
The mine in the jungle was the target
And they set it on the road not far from it
They pinpointed the driver of the troop carrier first
But the opening attack was far from the worst

As the police special force jumped out of the van
They were picked off by the rebels man by man
When it was Ben Theodor's turn to jump out
A shot hit him in the leg making him roll about
Another one hit him in the arm as a shotgun blast
As he sat up on the road he was the next one to last

The Sergeant who was now in the embankment near the road
Yelled out, ' I'll get you Ben, ' and ran to him to pick up him as a load
As he grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back to the road's side
He was shot through the chest and he fell with the others who died
The rest of the patrol died on the road that day and lay in the sun
When Ben woke up as the only police officer left with his ordeal just begun

For a day he lay blinded and badly wounded in the leg and arm
With the tropical sun baking him with each hour so alarmed
Near the end of the day another patrol out looking for them
Came across the scene of the carnage which looked like the end
As Ben laid on the road he couldn't speak with a mouth that was dry
And through loss of blood he couldn't move and he could only lie

Then one of the police officers saw his mouth move and called to the others
They bundled him up and took him to Port Moresby then to Sydney for him to recover
But his eyesight was gone and he would recover with the other wounds
I came across him when working in the police welfare office becoming friends soon
When I took him to medical appointments to see what could be done
And he became a switchboard operator at Mt Hagan his return to duty won.

Ben was married with a baby girl and he was left to suffer PTSD and blindness
And I wonder if he feels that the price for duty done in the end was sadness.

© Paul Warren Poetry