Poems From A Soldier
Vietnam 1970 - 71

by Stephen A. Janke

A Book Review by
Don Poss, War-Stories.com Webmaster

Order Poems From A Soldier
at Xlibris.com

ISBN: 978-1-49317-094-4

“We each carried a letter just in case....”

 

Poems From A Soldier, is an outstanding collection of poems that will touch dog handlers who served in war and peace ... and also friends and family who want to understand why Vietnam War veterans came home forever changed.

Poems From A Soldier is like a veteran’s heart laid bare. I feel as if author Stephen Janke has drawn words from my own K-9 tour in Vietnam.  Most every poem tugs a memory from decades past … some good and some not.

Military War Dog handlers will feel the bond and remember the padding of their own K-9. Sentry Dog handlers will remember their K-9 who was a cunning and vicious killer whose only friend was his handler. Family and friends may for the first time have a better understanding of what their veteran experienced at war.

Stephen Janke’s poem, The Dogs of War in Vietnam, says it best:

You who have walked with your War Dogs beside you.
You who have lived to go on.
You who remember his courage and bravery.
You who still talk of his love.
…Dogs of war gave it all.
Dogs of war still stand tall.

Although many Vietnam Veterans have journeyed back to that land, I had sworn I would never return.  Page by page, Stephen Janke's Poems From A Soldier took me back to Nam. It is a book of poetry I will keep with a photo of my K-9, Blackie, and recommend to all as inspired poetry that portrays why America celebrates Veterans Day.

Don Poss,
1965-66, Đà Nẵng AB, SVN, K-9 Blackie X129.
War-Stories.com Webmaster and VSPA.com