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Writer's pictureCol (Ret) Mikel Burroughs

Nam - Our Dance with the Devil!

To dance with the devil is to engage in risky, reckless, or potentially immoral behavior.

War is the third world of death and dismay, and herein lies the truth.

War forces Men to be more intensely alive then they ever were,

or will ever be again. What a reality check to be swallowed by

The Daily existence of a life sentence of eight to five, with no parole

No bone chilling excitement, and no feeling of really being alive

And thankful you have made it another day. Adrenaline running

wildly every day, every hour and every minute. You are addicted

To this life, as much as you say you hate it, you have never been

Or never will be more Of a man. You are stronger, faster, more then a man

and more than you ever dreamed you would ever be. Fear is gone,

and it is replaced with cold blooded calm, confidence, and a bullet proof

Stillness, that means you oblivious to any harm that may come your way

Like the prayer says, Yea though I walk through the Valley of death

I shall fear no evil, because I am the baddest Mother fucker in the Valley

So be warned I’m here, and you stand no chance…against a god.

It’s no wonder its been said that war is an experience in a new third world,

because when you are there and participating, you have become a citizen

Of a new world that has never been seen or heard from. You no longer belong

in the world you came from, you are thousands of miles away from the day to day

existence of the world you left. You do not belong in the new world you are in

Because you have come to destroy their way of life, and their world. You do not

belong here and you never will be of that world. So you are in your own third

World existence one you that you make up a day at a time with no reality or

rules Applied or necessary. You do what you need to survive, and stay alive

another day, one of thousands it seems to never have an end, because it

Does not end, it will live forever in your mind, and memory a life sentence

With your third world of the dance with the Supreme spirit of evil.

The thousand-yard stare or two-thousand-yard stare is a phrase often used

to describe the blank, unfocused gaze of combatants who have become

emotionally detached from the horrors around them.

The stare we all drift back into from time to time

There is no Journey back to reality, that you are so badly in need of

Your return to the World is a trip you will never manage to achieve

A place that no longer exists, and one you will never see again.

War is a third world life you will never leave, you will never stop dancing

You need to punished for a crime you did not knowingly commit.

Or had no part in the creation of. You still owe the devil his due.


War is a ghostly apparition that will come to visit when you least expect it.

When it does you invariably react in a way you have trained yourself to act

When danger approaches, and it wants you. Terror and survival are the

Only keys to address the danger in the black robe, you know he owns your ticket

And you will never escape his grasp.


When you meet a veteran that has experienced war, you should try to understand

He will never “get over it”. He lives in his third world, he knows things you

could never know. He has experienced things you could never fathom. Experiencing

death is a very hard lesson to learn, but when it is in your purview every day, all day

All night for what seems to be a lifetime,


World I now lay at your feet and beg you allow me to try and re-enter your place

For a moment every now and then to achieve a calm I haven’t seen in many years


“Remember this always and the meaning runs deep for all those who’ve served this great nation: 'Honor & Respect Always — Warriors for Life!' " — COL (Ret) Mikel Burroughs

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