was in love with jimmy hickey.he wrote a poem that they read at jimmy hickey's funeral called the magic horse. the family shared the poem with me, and i reprint it in this book. the poem tells the story of when jimmy was growing up. he insisted that he had a magic horse that no one else could see and that he kept tied by his bed at night. this magic horse protected him, and it took him to some wonderful places. mr. burns told that story in his poem, and the last line was, dear jim, i'll lead you home upon your magic horse. the poem, written in 1969, evokes peter, paul and mary's puff the magic dragon. dragons live forever. but not so, little boys. i tell the story of a swift boat, patrol boat veteran who told me that one time they were hit by an ambush, and and they swung back with heavy firepower immediately, and apparently they hit an ammunition dump where these people were hiding. and there was a huge explosion, and he saw two bodies fly up in the air from the explosion. and how he and the men on his boat did wh

with jimmy hickey, a poem called the magic horse, family shared the poem and reprinted in this book. poem tells the story of when jimmy was growing up he insisted he had a magic horse that no one else could see, this magic horse protected him and took him to some wonderful places. the poem written in 1969 evokes peter, paul and mary's puff the magic dragon. dragons live forever but not so little boys. i tell the story of a patrol boat veteran who told me one time they were hit by an ambush and swung back with heavy fire immediately and apparently they hit an ammunition dump where these people were hiding and there was a huge explosion and he saw two bodies fly up in the air from the explosion and he and the man on his boat did what was 1969 equivalent of a high 5 around the boat and the next several years when he was telling people about vietnam, told the story, and the little baskets went flying through the air and we got them. and he said in 1979 he was on a church retreat in shenandoah valley. part of this retreat was for everyone to go through a maze on the church grounds. their

i interviewed some family members of a young marine from the, massachusetts, jimmy hickey. jimmy was part of a strong irish marine culture there and he was going to join some of with his buddies after high school junior only 17 years old. he delayed going in with them because his girlfriend persuaded him to stay but the following winter in february of 1968, one of his dear friends was in that original group that went in was killed during the tet offensive. jimmy hickey in four of his friends dropped out of school a month for the graduated from the high school and joined the marines. he was in vietnam by early 1969 and he was killed in may of 1969 on hill 55 north east of liberty bridge. dodge city. there is a square in the, massachusetts today named after jimmy hickey and at last count there were 19 others prayers in that city remembering young men who died in vietnam. jimmy hickey's uncle, phil burns, was remembered by family members as a very sentimental irish man who was in love with jimmy hickey. he wrote a poem that they read at his funeral called the magic force. the f