A Mothers Ode to Viet Nam
Alice Allen (Stan Allen's Mom)
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Viet Nam, I have sent to you my most treasured possession, my only son. I have fed, clothed , taught, loved, scolded & praised him. I have rebuked, comforted & guided him to the best of my ability. I am proud of the boy he has become as a result of my training, worry, encouragement & prayers.
Now I entrust him to you, Viet Nam. I send him to you at a time in his young life when he could be doing many other things, & when I could sit back & be watching his accomplishments with pride & love in my heart.
Please do not make this son of mine bitter by the waste I know he will see while he is with you. I know he will see waste of both materials & of human life, but may it teach him not bitterness, but a keener appreciation of these things he sees wasted.
Teach him also a respect for a people who are different from himself. That even tho a people or a way of life are different, they have their own value; tho he sees misery & suffering, do not let this make him indifferent to the suffering of others, but rather may he become more compassionate, tho he sees dirt & squalor & waste, still let him see the beauty in friendships, God's sunset, the singing of a child, or an old persons face.
If he is frightened or in pain, do not take away from him his belief in God, but rather strengthen his faith, so he knows that God goes with him through the light or through the dark, & holds his hand, even tho death should be his lot.
Even if he understands this war no more than I do, let him believe in the ideals behind it, & fight for them, rather than regard the whole thing as a hopeless waste.
Viet Nam, I am giving you one precious year of my only son's life. Perhaps you will demand more of him. I ask that in return you teach him love of mankind, love of God, humility, patience. This precious boy I send to you___ make of him a better man___ & God willing, return him wiser, more compassionate & more understanding than the boy who went away from the mother who loves him.
Alice Allen