To all who have died for our country

How many poems were never written?
How many songs weren't sung?
How many babies were never kissed?
How many bells weren't rung?
What if my dad were killed in battle
Somewhere across the sea?
Would this verse have been lost forever,
Or just not been written by me?
People have died and died and died
In war after war after war.
For God or country or "He told me to"
For Nazi, bigot or Czar.
Boys with dreams of becoming men
Women who died little girls
Husbands and wives , moms and dads
Grains of sand; never pearls.
Souls fly around somewhere in space
Dreaming of apple pie.
Of homes and love and family
Screaming, "Why did I die?"