Van of Valor

SGT David Allwine

Before he endured 40 days of hell on a death march, and 755 days as a Prisoner of War… before his will was tested in ways we can barely imagine… SGT David Allwine stood his ground with supreme courage.

In the chaos of his Firebase being overrun, with comrades falling and the perimeter breached, Allwine’s bravery was PURE, UNADULTERATED HEROISM. He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire, dragging wounded brothers to evacuation helicopters, defending the position with relentless fury. For his “gallantry in action against an armed enemy,” he was awarded the SILVER STAR — our nation’s third-highest award for combat valor.

But the fight didn’t end there. The enemy kept coming. When the last helicopter was gone and the ammunition nearly spent, the position fell. Out of hundreds, only two Americans survived the massacre: SGT David Allwine and his superior, SFC James Salley, Jr.

From the ashes of that Firebase, their long captivity began. Allwine, already wounded, would be forced to march for 40 days with a shattered body to a POW camp, burying his friend Salley along the way. His Silver Star courage was now matched by a deeper, more enduring fortitude.

This is more than a war story. It’s a testament to the UNBREAKABLE SPIRIT of the American Soldier. It’s about the courage to fight, the will to survive, and the strength to come home and carry the legacy of those who didn’t.

SGT David Allwine — a hero twice over. A warrior in battle. A lion in captivity. We remember. We honor. We are inspired.

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40 Days of Mud and Blood

(Slow, 12-bar blues in E minor. A lone acoustic guitar opens with a bent, weeping slide.)

(Verse 1)

The jungle was bleedin’, the firebase was through

The jungle was bleedin’, the firebase was through

They called me dead on that hill, but N.V.A. woke me new

Hands bound tight, a blindfold on my eyes

Hands bound tight, a blindfold on my eyes

Started walkin’ with a hole in my chest, under ‘Nam skies

(Verse 2)

Two Southern boys, one more American face

Two Southern boys, one more American face

Sergeant First Class Salley stood in that damned place

They fed him more rice, gave me the peel and the scorn

They fed him more rice, gave me the peel and the scorn

Said a Black man can’t lead, from a propaganda thorn

(Verse 3)

They beat us both daily, for the rank we wouldn’t swap

They beat us both daily, for the rank we wouldn’t swap

‘Til the lies got so heavy, they broke my brother’s top

He leaned on my shoulder, though mine was shattered bone

He leaned on my shoulder, though mine was shattered bone

Then they made me dig his grave, on that trail alone

(Chorus)

Oh, forty days of mud and blood, and a chest that wouldn’t fill

Forty days of mud and blood, and a chest that wouldn’t fill

Carried a bullet in my back, and a soul they couldn’t kill

(Verse 4)

Monsoon came sloshin’, fever in my brain

Monsoon came sloshin’, fever in my brain

Talked to ghosts in the banyan roots, kissed my wife in vain

I stitched my skin with banana thread, learned to breathe in sips

Stitched my skin with banana thread, learned to breathe in sips

Became the wound, became the walk, felt the spirit slip

(Verse 5)

The camp rose from the jungle, bamboo, wire, and star

The camp rose from the jungle, bamboo, wire, and star

Two years of night waited behind that prison bar

Seven hundred fifty-five days, still to pay

Seven hundred fifty-five days, still to pay

But the walkin’ was the first hell, they’d put upon my way

(Outro)

Yeah, I walked for Salley… walked for the ones who fell…

Walked with a suckin’ chest wound… straight through Vietnam’s hell…

And when they say “Prisoner of War”… they don’t know the half…

Of forty days marchin’… with a ghost and a bloody laugh…

(Guitar fades with a final, unresolved bend.)