Letters to Roarie

A Story by David

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Letters to Roarie started long ago

And lost soon after

Times were strange then, it was us against the Man.

And he was against us so I guess we were even.

We had numbers and the Man had tools. Under cover cars, radios and guns.

Now thinking about this, the Man even had J. Edgar and we had numbers.

We had the Weather Underground, too radical for me. The Hog farm was from sea to the sea. We had Hendrix, Morrison and the Jefferson Airplane and so many more all stirring us to frenzy. The Man had the draft! So many years later it doesn’t seem an even playing field anymore at all.

We had peace symbols, beads and free love. The Man had Vietnam.

We had Woodstock and Watkins Glen. He had B-52’s and gave us Kent State. A flower in a rifle barrel was no good that day. It was us and it was them, times so confusing to young minds.

We had Jimi, Janis and Jim but we also had Elvis, The Four Tops and Roy.

Sons of the elite and political had draft cards with numbers in the hundreds

While we had numbers in the three’s. More unfair all the time.

We had fifty eight thousand dead. Mother and fathers no longer had sons.

Fiancee and girlfriends no longer had lovers and friends.

Our boys that came home addicted to drugs their minds ablaze with war,

heroin and all else.

I was processing in at Walter Reed Medical Center and met a returning soldier. His legs were missing one eye was gone and soon to go blind. He had limited use of the rest of his body. His first words to me were “Am I glad to be home!” As long as I may live, I will never forget that day, that man or his words. These vets on home soil again maligned and mistreated by the Man. Neglected and cast off, done and over with.

The machine and the Man became filthy rich from the building of ships, aircraft and manufacture of munitions. We got corrupt pols and hacks all sucking at the trough while our vets become homeless.

Hell we were never even at all. We never stood a chance, we just didn’t know. To this day it just gets worse. They lie to the stupid or dependant and are believed. Christ the Man lies right in our face everyday and doesn’t care if we believe Him. His pals at CBS will take care of Him.

Things have to change they just can’t go on, this uphill battle of we and the Man.