The Neverending Ache (CTG)

[Christopher T. George]

The Neverending Ache

"Since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003,
more than 16,000 troops--mostly Army--have deserted."
"...Americans are stunned and shocked when someone rejects
America. They assume everyone wants to be in America, or
like them. When they don't, America is like a macho, jilted
husband." Lee Zaslofsky, Vietnam War draft dodger.
Washington Post, March 17, 2008

We can't go home again: we suffer the exile's ache
like a phantom limb twitching in the dark, each
guy severed from family, the places we grew up.

We live in the nation to the north: almost America
--but not quite. We've done the unforgivable,
as if we spat and shit on the flag, the Holy

Stars and Stripes: America depended on us, hand
on heart, palm on Bible to do our patriotic duty.
We tore up the contracts, disobeyed our command,

turned our backs on all we knew for this other
place which has not yet deported us--but still might:
maybe time to run again? So we feel the same ache

as the grizzled, arthritic men we meet who drove
north to Canada with long hippie hair in VW buses
with Flower Power decals, psychedelic lettering,

we who have gone AWOL, tired of multiple tours,
roadside bombs, the dull hammer of reflex killing.
So throbs our twitching ghost-limb in the night!

Christopher T. George

[lizzytysh]

Hi Christopher ~

You have such a way of 'nailing it' ~ having lived through the one war and now living through the subsequent, Bush Wars, I'm very moved by your poem. I have heard those deserter statistics ~ not even in the midst of or after their first duty... but after multiple tours... so oft, the unprepared and untrained National Guard... the weekend warriors... sent to the front of the battle lines. The lack-of-proper-care-upon-returning-home statistics [physical, mental, emotional, financial] are even more staggering... hard to believe as that may be, given those high numbers for 'desertion.' Head injuries, even when they're not directly hit, because of the intensity of the blasts of IEDs and such. Perhaps, some of these men and women have heard what 'top flight' treatment and service they'll receive once they're home... their lives worth less than someone off the street. I can't go on and on about it; because there's just so much to say. False promises and pretenses onward... Still, your poem evokes all I have managed to say, and not said, for me. These people are not operating in a vacuum as to what's been going on or what's anticipated. Done your duty for your country?? You betcha. At least get out while you at least still have your life... seriously marred as it may already be by an unjust war.

You're particular about this kind of thing [I know ], so you may say okay... or not... but I would love to post your poem [all credits ~ from the CTG in parens to your name spelled out at the bottom] on Barack Obama's site. He is the only candidate, campaigning to run for President of the United States, who not only opposed, but strongly opposed the Iraq War from the beginning; and is committed to getting our troops out as quickly and safely as able; but not as a platitude of politics, but a commitment of personal conviction.

Your poem is power packed. Who knows how many of the ex-soldiers looking for refuge in Canada are dealing with very real, physical shadow pain, as well. As I know you already know, it's the Army and Marines who see, experience, and know first-hand what's really going on, on the ground.


~ Lizzy

[Ladybythetrack]

Hello Christopher,

It's a very potent poem; thank you for posting it. I wasn't aware of the awol stats, that is quite staggering.

While the American leadership bangs the on the drum of moral high ground, I often wonder what the American people themselves think about the Iraq war. Your poem eloquently gives me a glimpse of one perspective. Very sad, very moving.

Ladybythetrack

[lizzytysh]

Potent was the word I was looking for, but just couldn't find. Thanks, Ladybythetrack. Though the majority of us can't be so eloquent as Chris has been here, many Americans feel this way about the Iraq War; if not in the beginning [as I and many others did], at least they've come to this point of view.


~ Lizzy

[lizzytysh]

Hi Chris ~

I know you could match me, story for story, but the timing of this was interesting. I suspect it may have to do with the government's desire for John McCain to get elected; so the War Machine can remain status quo. "Let the nation know we're getting this squared away and everything will be okay." My co-worker told me about the report she heard about this on the radio; that the turnout was so high yesterday, that today they're flying in attorneys from Dallas to deal the overload. This gives such a bare glimpse into the real nightmare of it all... and we're not even seeing the scenarios described of current and recent vets. It's staggering. Before I found an article on what she's said, these lines came to mind and they're certainly not intended to be 'poetry' [in fact, the ways of stating what I do even sounds familiar from somewhere... but it's what came to mind, so here it is, and then the link and article]. The cadence is wrong, but so is the situation.

"Thank you, Sir,
for a job well done.
Here's your wheelchair.
Sorry, man. Gotta run."

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/s ... 1269.shtml

Last modified 3/19/2008 - 5:35 am

JOHN PEMBERTON
JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-Union
Vietnam veteran Seymour Groover goes through paperwork Tuesday while waiting to see a counselor from Project Salute at the Mary Singleton Senior Center. A project of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, the program helps veterans enmeshed in federal benefits issues.

JOHN PEMBERTON
JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-Union

David McTate, an Army veteran of Vietnam, waits to speak with a counselor with Project Salute. Hundreds of military veterans went to the Mary Singleton Senior Center Tuesday for help and information on government benefits. Volunteers from University of Detroit's Mercy School of Law will assist vets today with the sometimes maze of paperwork necessary to file or pursue claims.

Veterans get help with their benefits from Project Salute

The program assists them in dealing with federal benefits issues

By Jessie-Lynne Kerr, The Times-Union


Charlie Sledge gave 33 of his 72 years to the Army, two of them on active duty in Korea and 31 in the reserves. During his service to the country, he suffered a severe injury to a knee that still gives him trouble.

But the retired Jacksonville Sheriff's Office corrections officer has been unable to get veterans disability benefits because his records were lost in the disastrous 1973 fire at the St. Louis warehouse where the government stored military records.

"I have gone from pillar to post with no results," Sledge said Tuesday, grasping two 3-inch-thick accordion files bulging with papers detailing his efforts.

He was among more than 200 veterans who jammed the hallways at the Mary Singleton Senior Center in downtown Jacksonville seeking assistance from Project Salute.

A project of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, the program is on a national tour to provide free assistance to veterans enmeshed in federal benefit issues.

Staffed by two faculty lawyers and three law school students, the project will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today to see more veterans at the Singleton Center.

Another veteran seeking assistance Tuesday was retired Jacksonville ophthalmologist Tom Edwards. He was an ROTC student in college and in medical school and began four years of active Army duty in June 1950, followed by 31 years in the reserves.

Edwards served as a medical adviser to the South Korean army for 10 months during the Korean War.

But it was while serving as an officer on the tuberculosis ward at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio that Edwards lost vision in his right eye.

He was treated with early forms of corticosteroids, which restored some of his vision, but doctors later learned the substance also causes bone and cartilage to degenerate.

Today, Edwards, 79, must use a walker to get around since portions of both of his legs are paralyzed and he has degenerated cartilage in his spine.

Edwards said his beef with Veterans Affairs is that it deducted his 30 percent disability benefit from his longevity pay because of changes in the law.

"It is all very confusing," he said, "and I am hoping to get things straightened out."

The project group on the tour is headed by Joon Sung, a law clinical professor at the university's Veterans Legal Clinic.

"We hope to see as many veterans as we can to find out what problems they are having in getting benefits," Sung said.

He said Tuesday's turnout, plus at least that many expected today, "demonstrates the need for our services."

And, Sung added, "the VA is listening. The day after a newspaper reported the plight of a veteran in Houston who came to see us, the VA cut him a check for $96,000."

According to the project's spokesman, Dick Jefferson, there are about 1.75 million military veterans in Florida, with more than 157,000 of them living in Jacksonville. Nationwide, he said, more than 500,000 veterans who are eligible for benefits are not receiving any.

Both deplorable and unconscienable.



~ Lizzy

[Jimmy O'Connell]

This is strong stuff Christopher...

powerful stuff...

this might be the beginning of the cathartic process.
But it might just be avoided too...

Jimmy