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Posted on 04/30/2008 10:28:57 PM PDT by JustAmy
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A Soldier Died Today
He was getting old and paunchy,
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in,
And the deeds that he had done.
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, everyone.
And ‘tho sometimes, to his neighbors,
his tales became a joke.
All his buddies listened,
For they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer,
For ol’ Bob has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer,
For a soldier died today.
He won’t be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary...
Very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family,
Quietly going on his way.
And the world won’t note his passing,
‘Tho a soldier died today.
When the politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state.
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories,
From the time that they were young.
But the passing of a soldier,
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution,
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise,
And cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow,
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country...
And offers up his life?
The politician’s stipend,
And the style in which he lives,
Are sometimes disproportionate,
To the service he gives.
While the ordinary soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal,
And perhaps a pension...small.
It’s so easy to forget them,
For it is so long ago,
That our Bob’s and Jim’s and Johnny’s,
Went to battle, but we know.
It was not the politicians,
With their compromise and ploys;
Who won for us the freedom,
That our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand;
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?
Or would you want a Soldier,
Who has sworn to defend,
His home, his kin and Country,
And would fight until the end?
He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin.
But his presence should remind us,
We may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict,
Then we find the Soldier’s part,
Is to clean up all the troubles,
That the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor,
While he’s here to hear the praise.
Then at least let’s give him homage,
At the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline,
In the paper that might say,
“OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
FOR A SOLDIER DIED TODAY
Well, your search was wonderful..There’s Miss Nellie’s Pretty Place Entrance !..and I love the beautiful clematis!
Thank you, (((yorkie)))!
Thank you so much, Conor!
LOL! Well, sorry to tell you this, but they are chock FULL of sugar! (Just brush your teeth real good after you clear the basket out.)
Glad you enjoyed them, and hope you had a fine birthday! ;-)
FERN HILL
Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.
And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
In the sun that is young once only,
Time let me play and be
Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
And the sabbath rang slowly
In the pebbles of the holy streams.
All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
And playing, lovely and watery
And fire green as grass.
And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
Flying with the ricks, and the horses
Flashing into the dark.
And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
The sky gathered again
And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise.
And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
In the sun born over and over,
I ran my heedless ways,
My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace.
Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
In the moon that is always rising,
Nor that riding to sleep
I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
Dylan Thomas
I can’t find any pictures of people walking among either the Three Servicemen Statue of the Vietnam Vets Memorial or the Korean Vets Memorial. Both are shown with chain fences that mark the area, presumably protected by Park Service personnel. I haven’t personally seen the Korean Vet figures.
Very true words. Lovely, emotional poem, yorkie!
Your military tributes #1124 and #1125 are beautiful and very touching. Thank you, Oesy!
Very nice, Conor....good to see you!
Hi jaycee - how are you doing today?
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I hate you were in that hole anyway! By the looks of your picture, it looks like a very attractive hole to be in surrounded by the lovely flowers! And look at that lovely blue sky! But if you would rather view it from the up side, come on out~~LOL~~
That is a unique picture!
Doing fine, Conor, and hope you’re the same. There’s a lot to do at this time of year, but isn’t it nice to be in this beautiful world~~~
Awwwwwwwww~~~~
;o)
We have lesser golfinches in Texas..They all start off with greenbacks but the lesser goldfinch keeps theirs..Goldfinches get the yellow back the second year..IIRC what I read.
Welcome to Amy’s Place, Conor.
Nice to see you today. Don’t be a stranger. ;^ )
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