El Chorrillo
John M. Johnson
American bombers obliterated
this poor barrio, in Panama City, 1989,
called Operation Just Cause,
killing hundreds.
Who remembers this scourge?
Who can find El Chorrillo on a map?
Who can put a name to those bodies,
burned and destroyed
in the name of American freedom?
Who now says “Never Again”
to the Panamanians?
The Ghost of David Darling
John M. Johnson
I was the officer in charge
of USS Taussig (DD 746)
on July 16, 1967
as we prepared
for shore bombardment
up north near Haiphong.
Emergency sirens called me
to the 5”38 gun mount
on the second deck
where Seaman Apprentice David Darling
had been decapitated.
Amidst the chaos,
I retrieved his head
from the gun well
and tried to reattach it
to his body
in vain.
He was a good kid
from West Virginia,
loved the Navy because
this was the first time he slept
on sheets and had three
square meals a day.
In his mind, this justified
why he lied about his age
to enlist in the service.
The mission went on.
Life went on.
Three decades later,
it all came crashing down
in a counseling session
during a midlife crisis.
David Darling then became
an occasional visitor
for four decades more
as I struggled with my duplicity
in America’s war culture.
John M. Johnson was born in Indiana, served in the US Navy aboard USS TAUSSIG (DD 746) as a gunnery officer and ASW officer during two tours of duty to Vietnam (1964-67). His American ancestors were pacifist Quakers for 12 generations (1611-1964), and he was the first member of his family to serve in the military. Later he taught for 40 years at Arizona State University as Professor of Justice Studies in the School of Social Transformation. In recent years he has been an active member in Veterans for Peace, an organization devoted to peace.
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