Prayer of the Tunnel Rat

Oh, God please protect me from my innermost fears,

Only a few more months ‘til I’m through my year.

They needed a volunteer to go down the hole,

You only needed courage & a believing soul.

The first time was easy, the excitement was there,

You knew the enemy was close but just not where.

Time after time you go beneath the ground,

Darkness the enemy, your friend the sound.

You look for shadows or a weapons glare,

You’re a veteran of the tunnel with a ghostlike stare.

“Tunnel Rat forward,” the sergeant yells,

They call it a hole, you call it hell.

Oh, God please protect me from my innermost fears,

Only a few more months till I’m through my year.

AP PRESS PHOTO

Michael D. Monfrooe

Dedicated to C.W. Bowman a Rat in the 25^th Inf. Div. awarded the Purple

Heart in 1999 for being WIA in “68” and later Drill Sgt.

A Proud Man and a Great Friend