From places unknown,
We responded to the call,
Reluctant, naive
Young men, are all.
Vietnam is the quest,
Is not the goal worthy and just?
We send our best,


To fight, to fly, some will die, as many must.
Join the Purple Fox Squadron
A proud band of brothers,
A name to be taken
Famous, like no other
Some names enshrined on the Wall,
But most, reluctant heroes to family and friends.
Return home, bodies twisted or burned beyond the pall,
Let not a brother's memory fade, forgotten in the end.
At Arlington, Roscoe with ceremony laid to rest.
Our comrade in arms, hero and brother.
We've come to honor one of our best,
Yet, to honor one, is to honor all others.
Years have passed, memories fade.
This band of brothers, their stories to tell,
Of time spent to rescue and save
Our brothers, from chaos to spell.
Who are these Purple Foxes, who come to share?
SWIFT, their names: Hammer, Big Dog, Festus,
Orahood, Good Time Chuck, Big Paw and Davy O,
Worm, Staples, Riersgard, Laney and the Buzzard.
Time to bond with the Senior Fox,
To share a story with this man of glory,
Blades, a man and a name destined to fly the forty-six,
With him we're honored to share our story.


No stronger bond,
Though the years have passed,
Our once proud stance,
Now bows in gait and step.
Decades five, gone in a blink of the eye,
Let us not forsake, let us not forget,
Stand tall Purple Foxes, your glasses lift high,
Semper Fi, Semper Fi, Semper Fi.


28 September 2019
© JD Owens