Delta Blue

I was stationed at a naval support base in the Mekong Delta that worked with the Mobile Riverine Force(USN), and the 9th. Infantry(US.Army). Much like a mechanic working at a gas station near an expressway, we fixed the ships and watched the traffic go by. We saw the price the MRF paid in its battles with the enemy. The battle scarred ships bore silent testimony to the fierceness of their struggles. They were our heroes, we watched them take the fight to the enemy at a heavy price. These poems are about real people I met, each with their own story. From the cobra pilots who intervened one night in our defense( BIG MAN ), to the nurse who couldn't take any more (REGRETTABLE FLAW), to the loss of too many friends (IN MEMORIAM...VETERANS DAY), the Seal team member (MADDOG). My words can never express our awe of them, they were my hero's and always will be.

Russell G. Robison was born in Duncan, Oklahoma in 1946, and moved all over the East coast until settling in Dallas in 1958. After graduating from Richardson High School in 1964, he attended East Texas State University until joining the Navy in 1967. he served aboard the U.S.S.Lexington (CVS-16) where he volunteered for service in Vietnam. Arriving "in country" as TET 1968 was underway, he was stationed at Naval Support Activity Dong Tam in the Mekong Delta. He was discharged in 1970, and spent the past 25 years working at the Main Post Office in Dallas, Texas.