The Press
In our country, America
The PRESS is … god
It can glorify a war-protesting
President
It can demonize a warrior
Commander-in-Chief
That’s fine
It’s the freedom of press.
But when press freedom
Roams around without compassion
Without a sense of American
patriotism,
It becomes nerve gas.
It burns your guts
It ruins your sleep
You have nightmares:
Seeing the press like a napalm
flame
Peeling off layers of your
emotions.
The burn inside
Blows away the mercury...
'Cause there isn't a physical
gauge.
What did TIME and CNN say?
A story about nerve gas?
Linh Duy Vo
(The Boy in the Poem)
9 June 1998 ©
A note of history:
Washington Post, April 1971 -- The
syndicated column by Jack Anderson ruined the raids to extract our American
MIAs.
Newsweek, 10 May 1971 -- The article helped
doom the POWs searches. (SOG, by John L. Plaster, pp 284, 302)
The Associated Press, 8 June 1972 -- Nick Ut's
photo felled millions of people of South Vietnam. "My picture stopped
the Vietnam War," said Kim
Phuc (the photo subject), Paris, France, on the Eve of Veterans Day 1997
TIME / CNN -- June 1998 -- "Operation
Tailwind," the nerve gas...
"I never expect
less than perfect words from you, Linh! There are millions of readers.
Thousands of understanders. Very
few poets. It is my great honor to know only one!"
--Helicopter Pilot Jon "Royal" Harris, 1st Bde, 1st Cav. "The
Flying Circus" 1969-1970 Tay Ninh