Poems
Alone and far removed from earthly care
The noble ruins of men lie buried here.
you are strong men, good men
Endowed with youth and much the will to live.
I hear no protest from the mute lips of the dead.
They rest: there is no more to give
So Long My Comrades,
Sleep where ye fell upon the field.
But tread Softly please
March O'er my heart with ease
March on and on
But to God alone we kneel.
-Audie L. Murphy, 1948
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Freedom is not Free
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young soldier saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform,
So young, so tall, so proud;
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
He stood out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him,
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many fox hole were soldiers' graves?
No freedom is Not free.
I heard Taps sound one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugle play,
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times,
Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had covered a coffin,
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children
Of the mothers and the wives.
Of the fathers, sons, and husbands,
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard,
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves at Arlington.
No, Freedom Is Not Free!
-Author Unknown
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One More Roll
We toast our hearty comrades who have fallen from the skies,
And were gently caught by God's own hand to be with him on High.
To dwell among the soaring clouds they've known so well before.
From victory roll to tail chase, at heaven's very door.
As we fly among them there, we're sure to head their plea.
To take care my friend, watch your six, and do one more roll for me.
-Commander Jerry Coffee, Hanoi, 1968
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The Wall Revisited
Where have all the people gone
That used to stand at night
Who stood the watch upon The Wall
With those who fought the fight?
There used to be so many
I could see each way I'd face
But tonight The Wall was silent
As to memories I paced...
No vets, no tourists, no breathing soul
Was present in my haze
Just me and the driver who got a ticked
As I sobbed alone and traced.
Where are they now those brave young men
Who swore they'd stand so tall
That NEVER would a sobbing vet
Alone come face The Wall?
I'm glad I come alone this night
Because next week you see
I would have drug a friend along
Who's a lot worse off than me.
The Walking Dead are walking still
And will for years, I'm shown
Until they finally see THEIR wall
But they can't go alone.
So stand aware, you vets and friends
The lone wolf comes one night
To face HIS hell so I hope you're back
To stand his six in the fight.
-Author Unknown
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The Wall
There's a wall of marble
Five hundred feet long-
Ten feet high, scribed with names
Of those who died, the strong.
There's more than fifty-eight thousand
Etched upon that stone-
Most of them died so young
This life, they've never known.
It's such a small tribute
To those who fought our war-
Such a small price we pay
To those who gave much more.
Their name carved in a rock
That most of us won't read-
Not near enough praise to give
For their most gracious deed.
Seems there's too many of us
Who don't really seem to care
That we stayed home secure and safe
While they died over there.
Remember when you see that Wall
With all those initials and names
That those men were only pawns
In one more of those deadly games.
Let's hope what they gave had meaning-
And that peace will always reign-
That we won't have to send our young
To fight and die again.
-Courtesy of Del "Abe" Jones
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POW/MIA
So many fates are left unknown
And so many rumors that abound
So many families ask the question
"When will, the answers be found?"
So many years have come and gone
Sometimes, hope is hard to keep
There's some who feel there's none
And in some, it's buried deep.
The pain, is in not knowing
How, to put loved ones' to rest
When there is no way to prove
They have passed, the final test.
But, no matter what the answers
We can't let this cause alone
Until, each and every one of them
Is found, and brought back home.
-Courtesy of Del "Abe" Jones
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Poor is the Nation who has no heroes...
Shameful the one who, having them, forgets!
-Author Unknown
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Our Honor
Just like our American flag
Proudly waving in the wind
Our Candlelight keeps burning
For our comrades to come home again
God help the ones who made it home
Like all the wars before
To be a strong foundation
For the land we all adore
We see the fighter of the flame
Growing stronger every day
For one by one our voice is heard
And the light will show the way
Step by step just like a child
Wit the future oh so bright
We've always had our honor
Let's not lose the Candlelight
-Author Unknown
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Man of War
Yes I did I surely met
A fellow man of war
A man once held a prisoner
In Vietnam the land afar
I heard his story slowly told
A choke came now and then
And when his voice was over
I knew where he had been
A vet myself I sat in awe
Of what the man had said
For more than once his memory
Had told him he was dead
Then his voice just could not speak
In his eyes I saw the pain
And again I hugged a brother
Then both lit a candle flame
-Author Unknown
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I am the Unknown Soldier
Lyrics by Patricia O'Grady Parcells for her father who is still missing
I am the unknown soldier
Some call me M.I.A.
Some say I can't go home again
Some say I chose to stay
I am the unknown soldier
Who you refuse to know
A brother and a friend of yours
Who left so long ago
Some call me P.O.W.
The one they left behind
I am the unknown soldier
The one they never tried to find
I'm the one they never tried to find
I'm a farmer from Missouri
The soldier from St. Paul
I was the hero of my family
And still my pictures upon their wall
I'm a poet and a scholar
And the boy who lived next door
I am the unknown soldier
Forgotten on a foreign shore
Long forgotten on a foreign shore
I was someone's lovin' daddy
I was someone's pride and joy
I was someone's tender lover
A worried Mama's little boy
And if you should just forget me here
Then should I forget you too
Please won't you try to bring me home
For I'm someone who belongs to you
I'm still someone who belongs to you
I am the unknown soldier
With no more tears to shed
I'm just a fading memory
Part of the living dead
My country has betrayed me
Yet I have forgiven you
And every night I pray to God
That somehow he'll forgive you too
Yes even somehow he'll forgive you too
I am the unknown soldier
The one for whom you cried
That familiar face that you can't face
The one your country told you died
I am the unknown soldier
With dreams you'll rescue me
And I am a man who understands
Only death might ever set me free
Only death might ever set me free
I am the unknown soldier
And I'm black and blue and gray
I said I am the unknown soldier
And I die slowly every day
And I'm tired and I'm hungry
I am the unknown soldier
The on you bought and sold
I'm the one you bought and sold
So lay down close beside me now
And gently stroke my face
And wrap your arms around me now
Before we leave this place
Some called me P.O.W.
Some called me M.I.A.
Some say I can't come home again
But I will return someday
-Poem used with permission from Carl Klang
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Lest We Forget
As he laid his hands against the name engraved in the granite of black
His mind reeled in the power and his thoughts drifted back...
They gathered for their country in a humid jungle land
And they fought for what was true and right, the ultimate test of man
They fought in heat, they fought in night, and fought in pouring rain
They returned when it was over, but some of them remained
Incarcerated, against their will, by an evil foe
Their own government turned their back, why, we'll never know
They knew they were abandoned, yet they held their will
They fought against their captors with the risk of being killed
Not a night goes by that they don't think about what they left behind
Sons, daughters, and families, of every creed and kind
They've been beaten, and tortured, intentionally kept weak
The very freedom they fought for is now all that they seek
Bring them back home their families cry
As the politicians they elected, turn a blind eye
These imprisoned men, gave all that they had
How can we leave them to be treated so bad.
You see their names on memorial walls
Bracelets, pendants, lining building walls
These good men came forth when the urgent call came
But to all too many they are nothing but names
When the feeling faded, he returned from his cloud
Wiped the tears from his eyes, and faded into the crowd
-Cayle B. Wills, Sgt., USMC
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God Bless the USA
If tomorrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again
with just my children and my wife,
I'd thank my lucky stars
to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
and they can't take that away.
I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
And defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.
From the lakes of Minnesota
To the hills of Tennessee,
Across the plains of Texas
From sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston
and New York to L.A.,
There's pride in every American heart
and it's time we stand and say:
I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
And defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.
-Lee Greenwood
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