Dear Bella
US troops left South Vietnam in 1973
The war ended in 1975
The war was over
But this is what I’ve learned from students
The stories they’ve told me
After class usually
In 1999
2004
2012
About their father vets
Grandfather vets
High school teacher vets
Uncle vets
Neighbor across the street vets
Homeless beggar vets
Fifty years later
For these men in their 50s 60s 70s
The war still isn’t over
Perry
–frm work-in-progress, Our Heroic and Ceaseless 24/7 Struggle against Tsuris
