There came an end, and in that end came our beginning.....
Steel and man moved forward as land fell away with our touch...
It came like fire from the heavens, raining death in hues of reds and
yellows from the firmament...
Thunderous machines that flew, manned by aerial sentries
with helmets and visors obscuring their faces of stone...
With eyes like eagles, the doorgunners scan the earth for the enemy
and lead the machines of steel on the ground to battle...
Fire and smoke scorch the land like the noonday sun scorches our bodies...
The ground rumbled and belched black earth into the steamy humid air
as our tanks and ACAVs churned and dug at the soil...
The jungle folds back as our withering fire obliterates all
that dare to oppose us...
On the ground, the air is filled with the pungent smell of
diesel and smoke and death...

On rides the steel, on rides the Blackhorse

There came an end, an end of our youth, and in
that end came our beginning...
Sweat runs into our eyes as the iron clad Trojans clatter to a stop...
Children rush to our steel flanked sides to beg a tin of C’s...
Old men peer from huts through cloth covered doorways and look upon
and fear these men of steel...
Lifelong workmates, the very old, hobble around with arched backs,
long bent and broken from eighteen hour days of work...
They pretend not to notice the huge instruments of death that now sit
in the middle of their world...
They pretend not to notice the dirty, sweaty kings,
perched atop their kingdoms of steel...

On rides the steel, on rides the Blackhorse

There came and end, and end of our compassion, and in
that end came our beginning...
Our test by fire has long past. We now kill with extreme
prejudice to end this war.
The King of kings has ordered this be done...
Our tracks dig deep furrows into the muddy road as children scatter...
The all seeing eyes that will guide and protect
the gladiators onceagain rise into the firmament...
Old men and women scurry to keep valuable pigs and
chickens from falling prey to the rumbling machines of steel...

On rides the steel, on rides the Blackhorse

There came an end, an end of our war, and in that end
came our beginning...
We are now different men of steel.
In only 12 months, our lives are not as before...
We silently reflect on what has come to pass and only share those
reflections with other men of steel...
In our slumber we still hear the clanking, churning machines and our
nostrils sometimes detect the odors of war...
Respect us for our gallant efforts, but don’t pity us for our pain...
We are the soldiers that guided the steel clad steeds into war...
Our souls are now steel and our healing will come with the next life...

On rides the steel, Forever rides the Blackhorse...

Written by John Malick
and is dedicated to the men who served with the
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, “Blackhorse”,
during the Vietnam war and the Invasion of Cambodia.