E-Learning Task 1

Children in the Darkness

Henry M Bechtold was in Vietnam from 1967 - 1968, during the Vietnam war. He witnessed the entire war and wrote this poem to show readers that war is not like the stereotypes, in which it is glorious, but it only causes many deaths and casualties. This poem was written during a visit to Vietnam in 2009. After the Vietnam war, he could never forgot the grueling scenes during the war, and thus travels to Vietnam every now and then. This poem was brought about when he saw a picture of a young boy in a war suit, carrying a rifle and waring a helmet when watching television in a hotel room in Vietnam. This resulted in him sympathising with these children and thus dedicated this poem to the young boys taking part in the war.