Vietnam+War+Jelene

For this assignment, we were asked to think about a family member or ancestor that has had some sort of influence on us, and finish a narrative about them, using Cathy Song’s “Picture Bride” as a model. I chose my dad’s dad, who fought in the Vietnam War, as the focus of my poem. I tried to imagine what it must have felt like to leave his family and everything he owned behind him as he made the long trek to Vietnam. This poem taught me to appreciate all that my ancestor’s have gone through for me to be where I am today. http://iolaniwomenlit.wikispaces.com/Picture+Bride

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Vietnam War

He was a husband and father of four boys when he got called to duty. Did he merely pack his bags and arrive at the airport, ready to fly 4,000 miles to Vietnam, where the bloody carnage of battle awaited him? Did he tell his family, “I love you and hope to see you all again soon” as he gazed into the eyes of his youngest son and felt a stab in his chest; the pain of losing him forever? And when he arrived in this foreign land, did he look into the faces of his fellow soldiers and feel no fear, or did he immediately wish to hop on the plane and fly all the way back home where his family and everything he had ever worked for was left? Did he hope and pray every night that he would soon be back in his own house, watching as a sliver of moonlight escaped through the window and landed on a soft pillow, listening to the gentle breathing of his four children as he bent to kiss each one of them goodnight, before returning to his bed next to the woman he loved, or was he proud to be risking his very own life for his beloved country?