The Bamboo Grove Poem by Thomas Thompson

May 30,2014

The Bamboo Grove

One late afternoon as the sun slowly set
I rolled the dial searching for elusive signals
Faint dits and dahs near invisible amongst a cacophony of noise
My buddy deep in his letter to the folks back home

Suddenly a strong signal burst into my ears
Quick as a flash I rotated the antenna and locked down the signal
My partner's letter tossed aside as he immediately alerted our two sister teams
Sending continuous updates as I followed the wobbly drifting tone

Within minutes the teams responded with the signal's location
And when we triangulated the transmitter's location our faces paled
For it was naught but a few hundred meters directly ahead
From where we were at the edge of a dense bamboo grove

Frantically we began to encode the coordinates for transmittal to Headquarters miles away
Not quite done when the air exploded as invisible weapons began firing burst upon burst
We dropped to the ground scrambling for cover amongst the nearby bamboo trees
The air sizzling from supersonic hornets snapping a few feet over our heads

I grabbed the coordinates and sprinted for the TOC
Bamboo exploding as bullets passed inches overhead
Setting Olympic speed records as I duck walked /ran as fast as I could for the battalion TOC
Coordinates firmly grasped in my fist

Bursting in yelling I had coordinates for the heavy machine guns firing on our position
The coordinates quickly relayed to the field artillery battery
Rounds already overhead as I returned to my position
My teammate pale from the rounds passing over head so low to the ground

Salvo after salvo striking the enemy's machine guns firing upon us
Suddenly cut short as round after round screaming overhead my teammate
Thought he would die as rounds exploded not far from where he lay
Abrupt silence almost painful to the ear as cordite and smoke drifted over us

Realizing I broke protocol by not transmitting coordinates to our intelligence unit miles away
Instead handing the enemy's location directly to the BN TOC only few hundred meters away
Instant counter-fire targeting the enemy transmitter as I quickly returned to my teammate
American lives saved as the sound of rounds flying over head still echoed in my mind

Tommy