Operation Safe Haven 1991

 

It ain’t much fun,

Not much fun at all

Squirting water from your buttocks –

Ten to fifteen times a day,

     But that’s how it was,

Shaking your ass while squirting

To stop the flies from settling on your anus,

And I’ll be blown –

The detector paper has changed again,

Another incoming bout of chemicals

Downwind to see you run for the latrines,

And the marines know the score,

They know all too well the maladies

Striking each and every veteran

Who spent time upon the hills of Silopi,

But the MoD see,

They keep it quiet –

Like a child who looks upon

The stolen sweets guiltily for

All too easily,

     They’ve stole their future lives

As wives are asking, begging

Of their men folk to explain

Why they hide and shield their pain,

But it’s all too much as Niad screams

The shrill tones again,

 

     The men are now older and wiser,

They know the dirty games at play

To discredit each and every account,

They know the lengths the state will

Go to,

     To cover up the details

Of every Veterans story

And it wasn’t guts or glory,

It wasn’t tails of bravery and courage –

The virtues we hold so dear,

     It was set in whispered tones –

‘John Doe died today’

He died having become frail and old

And sick with disability

Before the age of forty-five,

     He leaves three children to his name

Upon three full time divorces

For the part-time care

He received for serving in the forces –

     And,

The dirty tricks continue

Following his name upon his early grave,

 

     If the MoD,

Put in half as much time

Money and effort into clearing

Each their name

And affording benefits and pensions

For the service that they gave;

Instead of dirty tricks

To rubbish each account,

Then perhaps we wouldn’t see so

Many early deaths,

We wouldn’t have to fight like dog

For the recognition none receive,

 

     And there it is again,

The fluctuating bowel movement

After all these years,

The chronic symptom of fatigue,

The headaches

The spasms of the muscles

The tender hotspots

Where the needles and the pins

Present an early warning,

The heart attacks the strokes

The psoriasis of the skin

The deformation caused by boils –

And many forms of cancer that go

Unreported in the news

     And aye,

We served in faith as Lions

Swearing an allegiance to the Queen

But the country we defended

Shit on us in truth,

For it’s still the case,

We are led by donkeys

Who just don’t give a damn,

Getting richer in their wallets

For covering up the truth,

     And around the Hills of Silopi

There are babes born

Within deformity

We turn away our crying eyes –

     And,

We served in faith

While they push upon excuses,

Rubbishing each account of Veterans –

While the figures of their deaths

Rise upon each year,

 

     If only,

You put as much time money

And effort,

     We could at least

Attain a valid treatment,

Claim a realistic pension

That would endear a decent quality

Of what remains of life.

 

Michael J Waite 26^th July 2013.