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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gary Blinco
is a Vietnam Veteran, having completed two tours of duty as an infantry soldier
after being conscripted during the National Service era of the sixties and early
seventies. This is his second book. While his
work to date has been largely about soldiering and the Vietnam War, his writing
shows a deep insight into the human condition and deals with personal
relationships, including conflict and romance, which provides a solid balance
for the harshness of military combat. Gary works in sales and marketing in the financial services industry and lives on the central coast of New South Wales. The
Wounds of War
Old soldier can you tell me, Why you’ve lost the gentle touch? That bloomed like desert flowers after rain, And the dreams you dreamed so sweetly, While they spurred your heart so much, Seem broken now and blackened by your pain. Forget
the war they say, the past is over, The
wrongs of yesterday will slip away. Time
heals the deepest wounds, at last forever, And
your pain recedes behind another day. But
I’ll be here beside you, When
you wake up with the dawn And
I’ll hold you if the night becomes too long. Each day I’m searching deeper, For the one I knew so well, When youth was ours and simple pleasures grew, All the joys of life were sweeter, Where hopes and dreams could dwell, And a future free of war was calling through. Forget
the war they say, the past is over, A
world of love and peace is here to stay. But
soldiers know that peace is not forever, And
the future’s just a friend of yesterday. But
I’ll be here beside you, When
you wake up with the dawn And
I’ll hold you if the night becomes too long. Now I see the look so haunted, In your eyes and on your face. As I hold your sweat-soaked body in the dawn, And the peace of mind you’ve wanted, Since you left that wicked place, Now mocks you in a world of silent scorn. Forget
the war they say, the past is over, The
wrongs of yesterday fill hearts with shame. Old
soldiers now, just like a secret lover, Are
best put out to rest without a name. But
I’ll be here beside you, When
you wake up with the dawn, And
I’ll hold you if the night becomes too long. So the questions go unheeded, They lie etched upon your face. As your tired eyes burn feebly in your head, What you thought your country needed, Somehow fills you with disgrace, ‘Til you envy those old soldiers who are dead. Don’t
talk about the war, the past is over, And
righteous hearts regret our sinful ways. Old
soldiers are a bitter sad reminder, Of
the follies of our blinded yesterdays. But
I’ll be here beside you, When
you face your final dawn, And
I’ll hold you ‘till at last the pain has gone. ã Gary Blinco, April 1998 Gary
Bishop is on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, revisiting the war that plagues
him with bad memories and nightmares. He has returned to find and confront the
nightmares in the jungle where it all began. He
becomes part of a top secret Allied Nation’s patrol made up of Australian,
American, New Zealand and South Vietnamese soldiers. They are inserted into the
neutral countries of Laos and Cambodia to report on supposedly non-existent
motor roads — secret roads that are being used by the Vietcong to transport
the necessities of war to the south. To
disguise the intent of the mission, if discovered, the patrol is denied the
usual maps and support mechanisms, devising instead navigation and communication
systems that belong to an earlier, more primitive age of war. Bishop
gains a new insight into the war, and a deeper understanding of himself as the
journey unfolds. His life is further complicated by his reservations over his
recent, hasty marriage, his emerging feelings for a pretty Vietnamese girl and
the malaria that burns through his body. Back
in Australia, Leanne Bishop has battles of her own. Married for a mere three
months, pregnant and trying to fit into her husband’s family, with whom she
appears to have little in common, the sudden success she enjoys in her career
provides some comfort against the emotional turmoil she feels and tempts her in
ways she could not have imagined. They
married in haste and never really settled into married life together before Gary
chose to return to the war. Leanne goes back to living with her parents. Now
there are uncertainties about their future together; uncertainties compounded by
new emotions and interests that enter both their lives. The
story moves in turn between the trials of the secret patrol and the internal
conflict among its members, and the challenges that the families at home must
face. On the battlefield and on the home front they each suffer their own unique
wounds of war.
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