I came home from WWII battered
Dehumanized and shell shocked
The Army made a monster out of me
I killed at least three score men
And I wanted to kill many more
After the blood lust cooled down
I had guilt for the three score
One was just a Japanese kid
No more than sixteenth that
I shot point blank in the head
The horror on his face still
Haunts me even though
In that war it was me or him
My highschool sweetheart wife
Left me a year after I got out
I understood her right reasons
I was no longer the kid she knew
I was too much trouble and pain
I was always at bars never home
And I’d become a psych case
With a battle wounded brain
My life went to such pieces
After she left that even
The VA couldn’t put all
The fragmented pieces
Back together again
Just like Humpty Dumpty
Though he wasn’t broken in a war
I lived and died a tormented life
Of drunkenness and strife
And I’m buried in Cheltenham
Cemetery and nobody ever
Came to pay their respects
Bob Boyd
