Alvin L. Simpson - Distant Shore

DISTANT SHORE: A
MEMOIR

by
Alvin L. Simpson

AuthorHouse

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Phone: 1-800-839-8640

2009 Alvin L. Simpson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 1/19/2009

ISBN: 978-1-4389-3775-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4670-4884-2(ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

EVERLASTING GRATITUDE TO ALL OF you continues to imbue me:

Reverend Willie Wiggins, Nancy Wiggins, Alberta Simpson, Janice Simpson, Jeff Simpson Sr., Jeff Simpson Jr., Willie Simpson, Nancy Simpson, Tara Simpson, Denise Simpson, Diana D, Kathleen M, Emilie F, Jackie K, Elden M, Diana T, Bruce S, Judy B, Darz T, Rick L, Edward S, Jeanie B, James C, Alvin L, Donald C, Patricia G, and to all of my 84 th Street cohort each and every one of you, and thanks to the 84 th Street psychology. I must thank all of the grunts I served with in the Corps; it is because of all of you that my light still shines. I shall never forget SSgt. Perry Smiley, Sgt W.E. Benner, and Sgt D.M. Donovan my Drill Instructors who forcibly, but with love taught me the skills I would need to survive on that Distant Shore.And, to the memory of my dear brother Lorenza Gayles. For all of this I thank Him.

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

---Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

IT WAS OH, SO GOOD listening to all the patriotic songs, inspirational songs, and spiritual songs tonight. For reasons I cant put a finger on, and often fight, the songs of national pride and glory always give me a little consolation; reality is, the horror of the war is never far away. The speeches stir my soul and lend some credence to the elusive utility of all the tragedy and death of my brothersthe loss of my friend Lorenza Gayles. The prayers and well wishes of the survivors and wars spectators is fleeting comfort, and remind me there is efficacy in prayer, I dont try fool myself; I know too well things of this ilk dont get better, I have simply learned to wear the losses a bit more comfortably.

My heart today is as vacant as it became that day, 40 and some years ago when I got the news of my dear friends death Vietnam; the pain stings as deeply today, as it did 38 years ago, when we fought a faceless enemy there, when I survived and my brothers died, and I could only wonder why. As I have walked this world over the years, I have feared little and loved much; they are always with me, and will always be with me; my living is the reason they existed; the life I have been fortunate to live, the reason they had to die.

Oh it was kind of good tonight; the songs, the speeches, and the prayers gave me a brief respite from my anger over the present crisis. But, after all these years, thank God, the sorrow is still there in my heart. I need it. I will never forget them... I remember! And, I still cry. I guess I always will -- Until Everyone Comes Home.

Distant Shore.

Storm of beautiful memories.

So often you bring joy to my heart-serenity to my soul.

In my mind I am free to venture back

And set myself free of todays malady.

There I walk in surf, surf that recalls to my mind

The scent of foreign and distant lands. My mind sails.

And dreams about the Corps of my brothers, my friends, my youth.

I dream of Immortality that I once possessed. I loved those days.

I was strong and determined. I was handsome.

I had faith. It was like an intermittent wind, but faith I had.

Often I recall those vintage days.

With Exacting clarity, I can recall them all, each one

Still glimmerng-now only memories of things that once were mine.

I came to life on that Distant Shore.

Today, today I am the offspring of my fallen brothers.

Today I blossom.

My faith, it thrives even in this world of trials and tribulations;

In this World gone mad, and destined to another Distant Shore.

Only a tested, honored few are strong enough to recall, with glee,

The splendid misery our tumultuous making.

Only we few, hold a sacred trust.

With pride, we are strong enough to recall, who we were there,

But moreover what we did there

Remember the brothers we left there, on that Distant Shore.

To the winds we few, the chosen few, have been blown.

Well dwell in this mire for generations

Charged to flourish and carry the legacy.

In this darkness we carry the torch and cast broad shadows

Upon civilization; lest it forget that this garden we call our home

Has been nurtured, and nourished

By the blood and tears of my brothers

On that Distant Shore.

Quietly, ever so quietly, we continue to sow

In the minds and hearts of the children of this morass

We teach any one who seeks the high moral ground.

Quietly, ever so quietly, we provide that light and inspiration

And should they ever be called

Called to do what we were proud to do

On a yet to be named Distant Shore.

And then theyll rise, and carry the creed, the honor, the way.

Semper Fidelis.

And the new generation of Marines

Will bear these things, from this home I dearly love,

From this Distant Shore

This place I call America

October 4, 2004

America

The United States of America

North American Continent

Dear America,

I love you so very much, my heart aches watching you destroy yourself, watching this abuse of your young people yet again, using them for cannon fodderand for what end? Iraqi Freedom! The ramifications of this war you have embarked upon are going to reach well into this new 21 st Century. Why is it so hard for you to understand? Cant you see the similarities between this war on terror, and that debacle known to many of us called Vietnam?

During the Vietnam War it was McNamara and his whiz kids who high jacked the direction of your nation, and almost brought about the internal destruction of it. You are now engaged in an eminent catastrophe, and again, your nation has been commandeered, this time by the neocons, led by Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, and Dick Cheney. You would do yourself a wealth of good to learn about these people. Their motives may be well meaning. I think they are wrong, and not good for the nation. Please stop this madness, and dont allow what happened to us happen to the youth of today. During Vietnam, we were sent by our leaders to fight a determined enemy who, if he had succeeded would have brought communism to these very shores I love so much. No, we had to stop the spread of communism in its tracksright there in Southeast Asia. As for our leaders, they too thought their motives were in the right place, but they too were wrong. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Todays young warriors are on a mission of global hegemonythey dont know that though. These young warriors, Americas best ever, dont know that they are on a mission of conquest, designed to spread Americas dominance in this crucial, unstable part of the world; I believe this in spite of what the neocons say. Hegemony is not congruent with the traditions and teachings of the founders; it is not what America is and what America used to stand for. God knows, this is not the America I grew up knowing, loving, and fighting for.

Trust me. If you think the Vietnam veterans suffered there, they returned home only to suffer more from an ungrateful nation, and the ghosts and horrors that have haunted them since.