Right down to the Bone

They had to be college graduates
Upwardly mobile
If you’ve got a problem

They’ll find the solution
That’s their business
Overcoming obstacles

Given our implacable enemies
There’s no lollygagging
This is serious business

A U.S. pilot commented on them back in the 1960s
“We sure are pleased with those backroom boys
At Dow [Chemical Company]

The original product [napalm] wasn’t so hot -
If the gooks were quick
They could scrape it off

So the boys started adding polystyrene -
Now it sticks like shit to a blanket
But then if the gooks jumped under water

It stopped burning
So they started adding Willie Peter
(WP - white phosphorous)

So’s to make it burn better
It’ll even burn under water now
And just one drop is enough

It’ll keep on burning
Right down to the bone
So they die anyway from phosphorous poisoning"

The “gooks”
Were Vietnamese men
Women and children

Depending on your mood
What you had for breakfast
This might make you wonder-

What kind of sick mind
Would come up with
Something like that?

“Right down to the bone”



Source: Philip Jones Griffiths, Vietnam, Inc.