Dedicated to Aly, Charles, Jerome, Douglas and Francesca
August 27, 2021

Chinooks, you say?
Well, we had Hueys
Lifting off the embassy
In Saigon, ’75.

It made for awful politics
—But great TV, we’ve seen
That scene a hundred times
(Rubbed in at least a thousand).

So, now it’s your turn,
Afghan veterans.
Tell me how you like the heroes
Typing on their newsroom laptops,

Writing that we lost the war
And tucked our tails and turned
Our faces from our Afghan allies
And left them facing vengeance,

Saying America can’t be trusted now,
That our military is weak,
That our nationhood is ebbing
And our enemies will defeat us.

Comrades, you’ll be seeing those Chinooks
Forever flying on Kabul’s dim skyline
And know by heart those damn, dumb headlines
With which your children will confront you.

—And you might think, “You know,
My grandpa might have just been right
About that war in Vietnam.
And maybe those old Hueys
Had grandkids named Chinook.”

One thing about those choppers, though,
A soldier must make mention:
They’re awfully sweet to climb aboard,
And be lifted to the heavens.

By Stephen Luster
Vietnam Veteran
25th ID, U.S. Army