Childhood Psychology of Militaristic Ascent

That day
Unidentified subjects shot at me from a slow moving vehicle
Then disappeared like a
Staff car burning high octane fuel
Made me believe even more
That I would enjoy my adult war
When I had matured into it always
Graciously accepting each future Medal,
But the infantry Marines and Army soldiers that came back Home
Tended to keep their mouths Shut,
so I had to learn to pry open
Viet Nam era silence as if I held a
Tactical entry tool slowly dissecting
Their suicides, social class,
Employment exclusions, PTSD,
Kill-all-that-move-orders as I
Moved into a rural housing Project
Prepared for so much more
Than President Reagan’s
Military police security detail, anti-
Terrorism road trips and peace time
boredom leading elsewhere
To explosions in Lebanon that didn’t
Result in attack-action orders just
Another General wanting Marines
To carry more unloaded weapons
As he went off under fully-armed
Protection in a speedy staff car