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prospector
05-26-2010, 07:53 PM
A Poem Worth Reading


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 once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of 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,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When 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 often disproportionate,
To the service that 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 many times
That our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,
Went to battle, but we know,

It is 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--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who 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,
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,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."
Pass On The Patriotism!

Semper Fi! guys..I remember everyday...

megahertz
05-26-2010, 08:54 PM
great poem
thank you
m

delayjf
05-26-2010, 09:09 PM
The other day while standing in line to buy groceries, an elderly man with a Marine Corps hat on saw me standing in line also wearing a Marine Corps hat.

We struck up a conversation about the Corps and I asked him where he had served during WWII. He said he had served with the 3rd Marines at Guam, Bougainville, and at Iwo Jima. It was a real honor to shake his hand.

Once a Marine, always a Marine

Semper Fi

Robert Goren
05-26-2010, 10:57 PM
That is a nice poem. I don't know much about today's vets, but I never met a WWII vet that wasn't proud that he served, but nary a one ever told stories about it.

Johnny V
05-26-2010, 11:11 PM
That is a great poem. Thank you for sharing it. We are losing that generation very quickly and there aren't many WW II vets left. There is one in the nursing home where my mother resides and he lost a leg on Iwo Jima. I just want to mention it here as a remembrance to him. Semper Fi.

JustRalph
05-26-2010, 11:42 PM
That is a nice poem. I don't know much about today's vets, but I never met a WWII vet that wasn't proud that he served, but nary a one ever told stories about it.

they tell stories to each other and close friends........spend a few hour in a VFW and buy them a few beers.....if you get close enough you might hear some good ones. I used to do this on a regular basis. I had a job where I got to know many of them.

Robert Goren
05-27-2010, 12:41 AM
they tell stories to each other and close friends........spend a few hour in a VFW and buy them a few beers.....if you get close enough you might hear some good ones. I used to do this on a regular basis. I had a job where I got to know many of them. I used do some relief bartending in a VFW. After a couple of drinks, they might talk about basic or army nurses or bar room brawls with the navy or curse the red cross or how cold England was even in the summer , but I never heard one talk about combat ever. I closest I ever came was when some jerk on tv was going on about how the concentration camps were a lie. He turned to me said "No they weren't, I was there. I don't want talk about it" His face was as white as sheet.

NJ Stinks
05-27-2010, 12:49 AM
Thanks for sharing the poem, Prospector. :ThmbUp:

JustRalph
05-27-2010, 01:39 AM
I used do some relief bartending in a VFW. After a couple of drinks, they might talk about basic or army nurses or bar room brawls with the navy or curse the red cross or how cold England was even in the summer , but I never heard one talk about combat ever. I closest I ever came was when some jerk on tv was going on about how the concentration camps were a lie. He turned to me said "No they weren't, I was there. I don't want talk about it" His face was as white as sheet.

I worked a special duty job at a VFW at least twice a month for a while......got to know a few pretty well. Heard some great stories.......

plainolebill
05-27-2010, 04:32 AM
My thanks too Prospector, great poem.

Most of the 1st Class Petty Officers and nearly all the CPOs that were in the Navy when I joined were WW2 Vets.

It was my good fortune to become friends with Chief Bosun's Mate Victor F.
who went aboard the USS Minneapolis in 1936 as a recruit and left the ship in 1946 as a CPO.

Minnie (http://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=459)

prospector
05-27-2010, 08:11 PM
Retired Navy Lt. John Finn, the oldest Medal of Honor recipient (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_war_hero;_ylt=Ag0RsXW99sg7fiYYzf9.eDCs0NUE ;_ylu=X3oDMTNrcXBlaHQ5BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTI3L3Vz X29iaXRfd2FyX2hlcm8EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3Bvcw M4BHBvcwM1BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVf bGlzdARzbGsDb2xkZXN0bWVkYWxv#) from World War II, died Thursday at a nursing home for veterans in Southern California. He was 100. Finn enlisted in the Navy just before his 17th birthday and went on to become the first man to receive the nation's highest military award for heroism during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, according to a Navy statement (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_war_hero;_ylt=Ag0RsXW99sg7fiYYzf9.eDCs0NUE ;_ylu=X3oDMTNrcXBlaHQ5BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTI3L3Vz X29iaXRfd2FyX2hlcm8EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3Bvcw M4BHBvcwM1BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVf bGlzdARzbGsDb2xkZXN0bWVkYWxv#).

He was oldest of 97 Medal of Honor recipients still living.