The Captain Called My Name Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

When the captain called me by name
That first morning outside Yongdongpo
I stepped smartly forward to exclaim
With gung-ho gusto - 'Sir! Bravo! '

'Gory! Gory! What a hell of a way to die! '

Swede and I stepped forward that day
To recon the trail that snaked uphill
Into a Hell lifted from lines out of Dante!
We were bloody grist for the infernal mill!

'Gory! Gory! What a hell of a way to die! '

Neither wooden marker nor granite stone
Mark the place where we fell outside Yongdongpo!
Captain and our company left the zone
With gung-ho gusto! No regrets! Bravo!

'Gory! Gory! What a hell of a way to die! '