Like many others, I watched the dedication on tv.

Amid the sea of faces seated underneath the sun
were memories of others who to this day had not come.
Those who weren't invited not because they wouldn't care
but they gave their lives so long ago that they could not be there.

Their memories are hidden in the hearts of those who came -
the sounds of someones laughter that will ne'er be heard again;
a waft of sweet tobacco once smoked by comrade, young,
will cause a mind to wonder at who that lad might have become.

Yet buried are they in lonely graves across an ocean blue,
row upon row of crosses shows how many died for you.
For each there is a family, who no more got to see
the face of one they loved so much who died to keep us free.

And today a dedication to those who lived and all who died,
for these, the men and women who in that war fought side by side.
For some were in the trenches, some stayed behind the lines,
yet all gave of their very best in that the worst of times.

And so,
over half a century later, underneath a searing sun
to Washington these heroes and heroines had come,
to dedicate a memorial to all who fought and died,
to friends they once had fought with, a band of brothers, side by side.

And songs were sung that brought to each the mood that was back then,
And tears formed in the rheumy eyes of countless aged men,
And women also dabbed their eyes remembering times long gone
This memorial dedication, a World War 2 swansong.

Granite columns and copper wreaths, and open eagle wings;
engraved names of battles, of States and other things,
fountains spraying foam into the air above a lake
peacefully remember those who gave all for our sake.

So, as you look remember, and offer up a prayer
for all the men and women who weren't able to be there
and silently give a "thank you" that because of them we're free.
In World War 2, in foreign lands, they died for you and me.