The Veteran

(Memorial Day)

a smart young man with a future bright his friends and family would say

but with a duty to fulfill

he packed and went on his way

a few short weeks his training done, his nation's finest through and through

ready to go, prepared to fight

to pay the country his due

expectations high as off he went, just a small price to pay

only there to age beyond his years

in a land so far away

manhood came and innocence died when friends began to fall

he sometimes cursed and sometimes cried

for the uselessness of it all

then finally there his freedom day, he had made it after all

and homeward bound forever changed

for he had seen too many fall

many years have come and gone but to forget would be unkind

his respects to pay on a special day

for all those left behind

now he tries each passing year to stand up straight and tall

and honor them as best he can

all those who heard the call

his heart will always swell with pride with remembrances of comrades past

of those that lived and those that fell

all veterans to the last

by p.j.lawton

(c) Paul F Johnson

5/13/2008