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    The Smell of the Light
    The Smell of the Light
    The Smell of the Light
    Ebook150 pages43 minutes

    The Smell of the Light

    By Bill McCloud

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    About this ebook

    In The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969, Bill McCloud’s poems take the reader chronologically through his personal experience with the Vietnam War. From his decision in the spring of 1967 to join the army, to the present-day determination by the VA that he has a service-connected disability, these poems chart a remarkable journey.

    McCloud served on an army airbase during the height of the war. The poetry he uses to describe his experiences is based on more than fifty letters he wrote home to his family. His poems deal with helicopters being shot down, air rescues, rocket attacks, and buddies being wounded in action. But they also address the day to day routine, boredom, hooch maids, bar girls, memorable characters, and the time he met Ann-Margret. It’s a collection unlike any other.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBabylon Books
    Release dateNov 3, 2017
    ISBN9781948263009
    The Smell of the Light
    Author

    Bill McCloud

    Bill McCloud has been teaching American history since 1974 and is a three-time Teacher of the Year. His first book, WHAT SHOULD WE TELL OUR CHILDREN ABOUT VIETNAM? (University of Oklahoma Press), was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. All of his Vietnam War papers have been purchased by the main library at Harvard University. Dozens of his Vietnam War poems are part of the official curriculum in both English and American History classes at the University School of Milwaukee, WI, one of the nation's leading private college-preparatory schools. His new book, THE SMELL OF THE LIGHT (Balkan Press), consists of 106 poems that cover, chronologically, his year in Vietnam. He's a 2017 Woody Guthrie Poet and is an adjunct professor of American history at Rogers State University. He lives in Pryor, OK, where a Little League baseball field has been named in his honor.

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      Book preview

      The Smell of the Light - Bill McCloud

      INTRODUCTION

      These poems carry the reader, chronologically, through my Vietnam War experience, beginning in the spring of 1967. Most of them were written in 2015 and 2016.

      They are not simply based on the memories of an old man desperately trying to recall events, incidents, and people from fifty years ago. In my case I was able to use fifty-two letters that I wrote home to my parents from Vietnam and that my family still has.

      Those letters provide the stories, personalities, detail, and emotion that were the basis of most of these poems. If those letters had not been written and saved it would not have been possible for me to write these poems. My memory was also aided by reading the history pages that are part of our unit’s current webpage.

      After dropping out of college in my second semester I volunteered for the Army and entered the service on the 90-day delay program. I was in uniform from September of 1967 until September of 1970. I was in Vietnam from March of 1968 until March of 1969, serving as flight operations coordinator for the 147th Assault Support Helicopter Company (Hillclimbers) on the airfield at Vung Tau.

      Vung Tau, about 45 miles southeast of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), was one of the major in-country R&R centers for American and allied troops and was long rumored to serve the same purpose for the Viet Cong.

      THIS IS HOW IT STARTED!

      LET’S DROP OUT

      One day I was carpooling to

      college with four other guys

      when suddenly one of them

      not necessarily the smartest one

      said let's drop out

      and join the army

      and that's what we did

      My problem with that school was that

      they graded very strictly on attendance

      Only a short time later did I discover that

      the army was a lot more serious about

      attendance than that school ever was

      IN THE ARMY, BUT BEFORE VIETNAM

      SIX THINGS I LEARNED IN BASIC TRAINING

      1. The importance of malaria pills.

      2. How to follow monkeys in a jungle to look for food.

      3. To avoid sex when outside the U.S. because the black rot is everywhere.

      4. The black rot is incurable.

      5. How to defend myself in hand-to-hand combat.

      6. Not to be concerned about taking a life. We’re not really fighting people just gooks dinks and slants.

      (Sent with love from Fort Polk Louisiana September 1967)

      FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY

      When I fired for qualification

      on the M14 and M16 rifles

      I scored as expert on both

      That pretty well amazed me

      because I had never hunted or

      shot a weapon before in my life

      I thought I must be a

      natural some hotshot but

      they had an explanation

      I had no bad habits to

      unlearn and followed

      their instructions exactly

      That would be my style

      through three years

      in this man’s army

      Do exactly as you’re told

      and you’ll succeed here

      And I folded into myself

      NO TICKET OUT

      One of the guys in

      our company in basic

      about six weeks

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