Push On

Peter Seeger once sang.

It was back in nineteen forty-two,
I was a member of a good platoon.
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna,
One night by the light of the moon.
The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure,
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place.
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him.
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone.

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand.
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been.
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone.
We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on.

Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!

Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)
TRO (c) 1967 Melody Trails, Inc. New York, NY

The War grinds on with young life being stuffed into its great maw and death and carnage left behind. Those of us watching clamber for answers on how to stop it or how to see it as having a worth while reason for happening. No answers seem to appear that make any difference. We stare stunned as it crawls along consuming hearts and minds at a veracious pace.

A big circle of fools stands on the shore screaming, “Push on!” They’re on dry land with their hands on their hips directing those who they do not know to press on on. The flood water is rising, our knees are no longer visible, the waters at our waists, and we shove deeper into current. This same group of fools Bush, Cheney, and Brown all stood mute watching Katrina make the Big Muddy flow backwards drowning the heart beats of so many New-Orlenins. No mud on those boy’s shoes.

Larry

Whirl- winding

I have been whirl-winding for the past several weeks and not able to enter anything in the blog. Now I have landed and am reflecting on where I have been, and what I have done. Two weekends ago I was invited to Mentone Alabama as a workshop leader for one hundred and ten men. There has been a men’s gathering meeting there for the past fourteen years. Author and men’s group leader John Lee is the primary organizer, Robert Bly the poet, and Robert Moore the Jungian scholar we were there to reflect on Robert Mores book The King, The Warrior, The Magician, The Lover. Robert’s book is referring to male psychological archetypes. I was obviously there to speak from the warrior perspective.

It was fantastic to be in the presents of so many open hearted men. Robert Bly spent time with me looking over my poetry and was very supportive. John Lee a long time friend presented some of his current new work which focuses on the topic of passivity. His new book will be outstanding; he is addressing a topic that is relevant to all of us.

What is left of the men’s movement is small but strong and potent. To be around men who are looking beyond their own egos is so unusual that I left being affected for several days. There were many men who brought their son’s. It was really nice to see these young men working on their issues.

War is on these men’s minds, several vets came to my workshop and we discussed Vietnam as well as the current wars. I was asked several times “What can I do to help support the vets?” The answer I most often gave was, “Be there, listen, witness, don’t turn off or turn away, offer your presents.”

Things to come on this blog will be some talk about the Grand Rounds I gave at Four Winds Hospital on the topic of PTSD. I will also report on my trip to Tallmadge Ohio where I was the key note speaker and workshop leader for the The Warrior's Journey Home. Stay tuned.

Be Well

Larry

Veterans Day

Veterans Day

A day to remember my War.

A day to feel in my heart, Marines I once knew.

A day to pray for lost peace.

A day to remember that I was not welcomed home.

A day to remember my old war prayer

to commit to life with the same intensity that I feared death.

A day to see that many people do not honor veterans.

A day to hear the flag snapping at the wind.

A day for my soul to shed its uniform and stand naked in the mirror.

Oath Taker and Oath Breaker

On October 3, 1967 I took the following oath to join the United States Marine Corps:

"I, Larry Winters, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and, that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Lately I've begun wondering if you, the folks I was protecting from those communist insurgents, ever took any kind of oath? The answer to this question is no. If you were born in the US, you took no oath of citizenship. If you lived outside the country and applied for citizenship, you had to take an oath.

By the time I got to Vietnam I did not believe we should be there; but I did my duty and fought. I took my oath seriously, as did many who felt as I. I was recently investigating oaths and what they have met historically and I found out that in the past oaths were considered solemn statements that had to do with the truth, allegiance, promises, honor, ethics and the preservation of life. Many oaths invoked a divine witness. In my searching I was looking for something I was calling a "citizens oath". I was hoping to find a citizen oath that dedicated the oath takers to taking care of those who were injured while protecting the citizenry in times of war. What I discovered was a citizen oath from ancient Greece called the "Athenian Ephebic Oath". The Ephebic Oath was sworn by young men the ages 18-20 upon induction into the Ephebic College.

To read the full article please go to my website makingandunmaking.com

Semper Fi Parents

Today I spoke at gathering of Semper Fi parents. I opened by saying that Semper Fi means "Always Faithful." This would be a good oath for the American public towards it veterans. There was a strong military presents in the room with a Marine Gunnery Sargent who spoke about the Iraq War and gave various reasons why people should be honored to be involved with the Marines.
I spoke about PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There were several parents in the audience that had lost sons in the Iraq war. I had a number of conversation with parents that asked me to sign my book to a son in the war or recently back from war. They were concerned that their kids were suffering from PTSD and wanted to where help was available.
This was a sobering experience for me, its been a while since I'd been in a room with so many Marines and there need to justify what they were doing and had done was palpable. There was an undertone of pain and loss, but to touch this would have left parents and Marines with a feeling that the sacrifices were perhaps in vain, so the tenor was kept positive and patriotic.
I do honor those men and women who offer their lives to protect our country, but I do not honor the turning of our heads from what they have been asked to do, and our expectation they the become who they were before the left. Healing and forgiveness need to be primary elements for the recovery of the traumas of war, not the bowed out chest and the lifted chin and the Marine stance of bring it on.

Be Well

Larry

The Making and Unmaking of a Marine is now on Amazon

The long wait for my book to hit amazon is over. If you would rather give amazon the 60% instead of my publishing company Millrock Collective then you may find my book on the big book seller. If you'd like to help the smaller publisher you can get The Making and Unmaking of a Marine on my website makingandunmaking.com I welcome all feed back.

Larry

Poems Can Heal

There is a chapbook that was just published by Vietnam vet named Dayl Wise. There are 18 vets that have written poems including Dayl. The title of the book is Post Traumatic Press 2007 poems by veterans. It can be purchased by emailing dswbike@aol.com. I have several poems in it and of course highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in understanding what war does to human beings.
Poem

When a man kills another man
he must dig two graves.
One in the earth for the dead man.
One in his heart for his spirit,
or he will not return.

Larry Winters