In the October 2004 issue of Smithsonian Magazine, a "mysterious poem" was quoted. The words were inscribed on an American soldier's canvas in 1967 as he was on the way to Vietnam. His name was written above the poem in Morse Code.
The ensuing weeks after the magazine hit the streets brought more than six hundred letters, faxes and emails to the magazine's office, from readers who pointed out that the poem was not a mystery at all, but from Universal Soldier, Buffy Sainte-Marie's famous 1962 anthem of the peace movement. The magazine staff apologized sincerely and sent Buffy several packages of the incoming readers' comments.
For 5 years, writers Art and Lee Beltrone had been involved with a project to save graffiti-covered bunk canvases from a troopship in Virginia's "ghost fleet." The graffiti was placed on the canvas by American soldiers going to Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. Art Beltrone first stumbled on them in 1997 while working with the set designer on the movie, The Thin Red Line. (Their full story is recounted in their book Vietnam Graffiti: Messages From a Forgotten Troopship, published by Howell Press.)
Beltrone convinced Maritime Administration officers that the messages left on the canvases were part of America's history, and needed to be saved. They agreed, and since the first discovery Art and his wife, Lee, who is a photographer, have repeatedly visited the ship, the General Nelson M. Walker. The Beltrones removed not just the graffiti-inscribed canvases, but other artifacts as well, and were able to interest almost a dozen museums around the country to accept and curate the objects, so they could be preserved for future generations. One museum recipient was the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The Beltrones delivered four graffiti-covered canvases to the museum, along with a complete three-tier bunk, and other material.
Smithsonian Magazine became interested in the delivered canvases, and featured one in their October, 2004 issue. One part of the canvas features a Morse code message, and at the other end, two long lines, that are quite meaningful today. Art Beltrone was able to learn the identity of the soldier who inscribed both. His name was Robert Simpson, and he lived in Plainwell, Michigan. He had been drafted in 1966 at the age of 21. The Beltrones never got to interview him, however, as he was killed in an ultra-light plane crash in 1992.
The Morse code message was simply his name and address. The other message reads:
"You're the one who must decide who's to live and who's to die.
You're the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war – and without you all this killing can't go on."
Smithsonian Magazine’s “Mystery Poem” is actually Universal Soldier
The Smithsonian article, in "The Object at Hand" department (pages 40 and 42) is titled "Kilroy Was Here," a reference to the graffiti left by World War II soldiers. The front page of the story features the Morse code inscribed canvas; the two line message text was included in the story copy, and was also used, as it actually appears on the canvas, in a small photo on the department’s "contents" page at the beginning of the magazine. In the text, the writer described the two lines as a "mysterious poem." Art Beltrone too thought that. But not a good number of Smithsonian readers.
Apologetically, Art Beltrone contacted Buffy Sainte-Marie, as did several people from the magazine. According to Art Beltrone, "the Smithsonian Magazine's editorial department reported that they were being inundated with emails and letters from readers who point out that the lines are almost identical to two in Universal Soldier. But it seems someone at the magazine connected with the story, missed the apparent connection. Sorry!"
Smithsonian Magazine said that they have never had such a huge reaction to any other story in the history of the magazine. They sent several packages of mail to Buffy. Buffy was touched by many of the letters, whose writers – soldiers as well as civilians – said that Universal Soldier had changed their lives.
In 2008 Buffy Sainte-Marie sang at an outdoor rally hosted by Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, Veterans Against the War in Iraq and many other groups protesting policies of the Bush administration, singing Universal Soldier across the street from the Smithsonian, where she had a concert and speaking engagement later that day. She also read her poem The War Racket.
