In Memory of CIA Agent Michael Spann, Captain United States Marine Corp - Hero of Qalai Janghi - First fatality in the war against terror.


Behold the man who was the first to die,
In this momentous war - in duty's line,
In battle grim, some monsters to defy,-
But fell their prey,- by high decree divine.

Mike bravely fought with big heroic heart
To smash Al Qaeda’s rat and vipers nest;
And foil nefarious designs and thwart
Iniquity, and free the much oppressed.

Who will attempt to constitute a jury,
As savage madmen level, wreck and blast
The Buddha’s statues in fanatic fury
In craven exploits of foul Iconoclast?



The knaves destroyed the Buddhas Bamiyan,
The famous sculptures of resplendent art,
And left behind destruction Taliban
And now impoverished farmers hurt and smart.

They keep their womenfolk illiterate dummies;
And chop both hands off for a bread-loaf’s theft,
Keep girls shrouded up like walking mummies,
And men folk of their wit, or head bereft.

But I degress, - of Mike I wish to write
Him, who loved country so and family
Was tortured and a holy martyr died,-
A prey of terror foul and infamy.

Intelligence to cull Mike was assigned
To Qalai Janghi’s ancient prison fort,
Yet his brave purpose soon was undermined
By treacherous a prisoner cohort.

Dissembling to be vanquished detainees
The terror master minds feigned to lie low,
Then turned around and showed their dragons teeth,
And struck the guards and Mike the deadly blow.

Hair-raising blood bath - brute savagery
Took place within the ancient Afghan fort,
Rebellion, slaughter and foul treachery
Among the barbarous infernal horde.

No medieval horror manual,
And no demonographer's write could tell,
Nor grimoir describe the foul cabal
Of Qalai Janghi fortress' horrid hell.

The pen of poets bristles as they write
Of happenings when powers dark hold sway,
Repulsed by necromantic fiendish night
That swallowed up the ethereal day.

Too late came air strikes and the big tanks rolled
To save John Michael from the brutal slugs
Dealt unto him in treasonous revolt
In Allah’s name by brutalizing thugs.

Or Satan’s name, whose power held full sway
Within the prison and its dungeons dark;
He gloated at the corpses' swift decay,
And left on Mazar-e-Sharif his mark.

To die a hero was John Michael’s lot -
Who loved his country, fellowmen and kin.
And like Nat Chapman -hero patriot
With bright and smiling eyes and boyish grin.



Memorials - too many did we see!
Brave Green Berets fell and their loved ones cry,
But love does bloom a perpetuity,
It is eternal and it cannot die!

Dear Lord sustain the grieving widow please!,
And widows all bereft that now abound,
And let them know their loved ones are in bliss,
As in God's loving heart they can be found.




© Elizabeth Dandy

Mike's death made headlines. He had questioned a young American less than two hours before the uprising and his death.

The man was soon identified as Lindh, who was dubbed the "American Taliban"