Hershel D. Cude
Cude, Hershel, D. Panel 02W-Line A on the wall
honoring our Vietnam war dead.
You were an
American Ranger, LRRP, KIA, no more need be said.
You wore with
honor the black beret and scroll.
You now rest
among our brothers on the
You were short
in build but a real dynamo,
You taught the
new guys what they needed to know.
They were the
little things that would help them survive,
You taught
them well, most came home alive.
You had a
premonition that you wouldn’t make it home,
We have all
had these thoughts at night in the darkness, all alone.
Yours came
true as you became a casualty of an unpopular war,
Your parents’
hopes and drams for you faded with a knock at the door.
Helen, Diana
and Connie, they miss you so much,
Your hamster, pranks, impish grin and such.
Your nephews
and nieces know of their uncle so brave,
They know of
your love of your country, and fellow Rangers and why your life you gave.
Cude, your family remembers and love you, you are not
alone.
Honored by a nation in that Black Marbled Stone.
We weren’t
very close but I remember you well,
When we served in the “