"The Patriot" is a very emotional poem. If I remember correctly, CG started it as a poem about his father but could not write it because of the emotion. He changed it to represent any veteran.
CG ..... did I get close on the story?
Close enough. But itt was a composite of my two late uncles, 1 Marines Korean Era and 1 Army WWII European Theatre and my grandfather and father who never served but were very patriotic. Dad lost his left eye when he was a toddler. So he never got to serve but a lot of the thoughts expressed were shared by all four and passed to me.
I miss them all and will fight to preserve what they believed in.