There was a ruck sack
That wasn’t very light
I wore it on my back
And pulled the straps tight
At mile 4 the pain came hard
But I continued to walk into the night
My heels bled my back ached
Hunched over and barley awake
I never bitched I never moaned
I only grunted the grunt
That only the infantryman knows
When the fight came, I watched men die
I grunted again but with also a sigh
That pain was different it hit really deep
But I never let on that I was feeling weak
I continued to walk with my Alice in toe
Hunched over and grunting
Where did my Ranger buddy go
When I returned home the pain was still there
10% here and 10% there
I am a warrior and warriors aren’t weak
I will keep it to myself, I’ll never speak
No one will hear me they won’t understand
So just like my rucksack I will withstand
The pain that runs deep from the terrors I’ve seen
I won’t let my guard down, I’ll let no one see (I won’t let them see)
The tears that fall down my cheeks
Because boys don’t cry
That shit is weak.
Dave is an Army Veteran, writer, and the founder of 22 Mowhawks, an organization dedicated to preventing veteran suicides. He is also a performer at our upcoming Savage WonderGround in Boston. Learn more about Dave Campisano and 22 Mohawks here.
Our Acting for Beginners class is now being offered weekly every Saturday from 10am-12pm. Scholarships for qualifying veterans, as well as multi-class passes are available. Registration details can be found here. We will now be offering our Playwrighting classes as live sessions on the VetRep Instagram page, available to anyone who would like to join in.