We met in Indy one spring day,
In 2002 in early May.
We must have looked a scruffy lot,
But for 32 years we hadn’t forgot.
Each remembered all too well,
His baptism into that fiery hell.
Thrown all head first into the flame,
Viet Nam was Satan’s name.
Was it a nasty firefight,
Or a single terrifying night?
Whether it was one or the other,
We became Echo Recon brothers.
Now it seemed so far away,
As we quietly talked on this spring day.
But memories came flooding back,
Like a very powerful sneak attack.
How did it happen that day and why,
Did Tim Brown “Salty” have to die?
Emotions surfaced we tried to smother,
He was new, but a Recon Brother!
1970, the 30th of May,
For many of us a defining day.
Mother and Doc tried in vain,
To save this man who had been slain.
Now, in Indy, after time gone by,
Recon Brothers were seen to cry.
The memory of that day is strong,
The toll it took will last lifelong.
So as I end this telling story,
I ask God in all His Glory.
Find a place for this Recon band,
Up yonder in the Promised Land.
They served long and they served well,
They have served their time in Hell.
So let them FOB to the right of Thee,
And from the fetters of war set them free.
-Leigh Livermore, May 28, 2002
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