Roland R. Ruiz
FORGOTTEN TRAGEDIES
In Memory: Nameless Faces and Old Soldiers
Can a soldier be forgiven, for the death which comes his way?
Can the savagery of his nature, be tamed to some degree
Can the horrors one sees in war, be a figment of a dream,
Or does it go on enticing one’s soul, in the bitterness one displays
Thus creating a shadow of despair, in the hallows of an empty heart
Compounding the memories of forgotten tragedies, one tries so hard to ignore
Even after forty years, the pain remains so clear
I see the faces of the nameless, I recall their tearful gaze
They come in the middle of my night, no pity can I expect
In a fantasy of a cause, I still don’t understand
For the souls of those who perished, in a jungle of no regret
Leaves an empty feeling, I would rather soon forget
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Nothing I can do, to exempt the wrongful sins
But pray for God and those nameless faces
To release this pain from me
©Copyright April 8, 2008 by Roland R. Ruiz
Author’s Note: Written to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the My Lai Massacre – March 16, 1968
The Son My Memorial stands in a park, on the site of Xom Long hamlet,
scene of some of the worst atrocities of what is known as the My Lai Massacre