Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 17

Influence– Helmand Province 2012

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Pete Thibodeau)

The elders (though that word does not contain
Sufficient substance to describe the strained
And weathered faces, demarcated by
A hurried youth disrupted and denied)
Approve of my entreaty to their sense
Of liable paternal influence.
They linger though, reclined, content to drone
In colorful, if futile, martial tones,
On lavish (Persian) carpets on the floor,
As old Kalashnikovs in younger, more
Determined hands (paid in rupees), sow
That lethal seed—unrestrained, row on row.
—Poem by Capt. Chad Lewis, U.S. Army
MILITARY REVIEW  January-February 2015

(Photo courtesy of Alexandra Korey)

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