I wrote this poem to honor of my brave brother, SP4 Stanley D. Ross, who was mortally wounded on October 20, 1969, in Vietnam.
Purple Heart
by Karen Ross Epp
It came in a nice box That Purple Heart Mother's Hand
Moved over it
A trade for the real thing
That beats no longer
In your young chest
Hand to hand
Bayonet to flesh
Bullet to breast
From where from whom
It had no face
Death that claimed you
Perched in a rubber tree
We only knew
Your heart we sent
Traded for purple
Cold
Metal
Packaged returned
Cookies crumbled
Never received
Never opened
No way to touch you
Through sealed
Clean-clear glass
Mother's tears
Splash
Father's fists
Clenched
October sky gray
Ground so cold
Receives your casket
So young so sweet
Handsome you lay
You gave them your heart
They gave you a medal
Years gone by
Still the pain is sharp
Your face so clear
You were my brother
Our Mother's dear
Heartbreaking reality of the sacrifices our troops and their families pay ... I'm so sorry for your loss. As the daughter, sister, niece, and cousin of Veterans, as well as a USAF Veteran, myself, I salute you. Pain, aptly penned.
Armageddon, a fact-based historical novel, is the third book of The First Strike Trilogy: A high-stakes race against time and politics unfolds in this gripping historical account of SIOP-62, revisit the tension of a pending nuclear attack, at a time
Mushroom Cloud, a fact-based historical novel, is the first book of The First Strike Trilogy: USA and the Soviet Union are building nuclear arms for a face off in a potential nuclear war in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Mushroom Cloud, a fact-based historical novel, is the first book of The First Strike Trilogy: USA and the Soviet Union are building nuclear arms for a face off in a potential nuclear war in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
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(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.