BOOTS, Combat, Tropical

February 7, 2026

BOOTS, COMBAT, TROPICAL

Why can I remember his boots but not his name?

BOOTS, combat, tropical. Nylon ankle reinforcing band. Vibram sole. Size 12M.

Our First Sergeant displayed them at the orderly room entrance. Empty. Caked in red dust and black blood.

The guy riding shotgun on the Pleiku convoy. Hit just as he tossed a frag out the window of his deuce-and-a-half.

BOOTS, combat, tropical. Nylon ankle reinforcing band. Vibram sole. Size 12M

Issued long ago by this old supply sergeant.

A name now carved deep in polished black granite.

About the author:
Dennis A. White served as a supply sergeant with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Now a retired college teacher, he lives in Eden Prairie, Minn. This poem grew from a specific, unshakable memory of a pair of boots that survived in his mind when the soldier’s name did not.

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