A poem worth reading. Especially today.

Today is June 6th a date that probably doesn't have any special meaning to most people today especially those under thirty. For you see we have degraded our learning system, our schools, to the point that we don't instill our history in our children anymore. Oh, I'm sure there are exceptions and the picture I paint is not as bleak as I sometimes think it is. The fact that we have so many brave men and women in our military services these days on a volunteer basis and the bravery and honor that they show representing our country with should give me more hope than I have.

What I do know is if I were to take a walk down to Allegheny River Boulevard and pick a number of teenagers out at random that a good number of them would give me a blank stare if I asked them why this particular date has significance. I'm sure that if I told a number of them that this date was made famous in 1944 that they might associate that era with World War II having some sense of what I was looking for just by what they have picked up through osmoses. I will even go so far as to say that if I gave them a hint and mentioned the word Normandy that it would only make the fuzz that resides between their ears swirl a littler faster.

I could be wrong. It might be that some of them will have seen "Saving Private Ryan" and for only that reason have a clue. I hope I'm wrong. I hope that the teenagers standing on corners, riding their bikes and skate board will have been told about the great sacrifice that was made by the men who never returned to families. Who never got to see their children grow into young adults and start a life of their own. They gave everything they had including their lives so that future generations could live in a better world. A world where they could lead a life better than the one of the preceding generation.

I hope that you who are reading this knew why this date was special the moment I mentioned it. I hope you are aware of the state of the world sixty six years ago today and how perilously close we came to living in an entirely different world that the one we know toady. I hope that you will pass that knowledge on to your children and their children. That you will make them understand the great debt we owe to those that came before us so that they might pass that along to future generations.

I was originally just going to paste this poem into an email and pass it along as I do with many things hence the subject line of this message. Because of the poem though I felt the need to prefix it with a few words about this day in history. As usual I let my thought pour out and my fingers get away from me going on much longer than I had anticipated. I thank you to indulging me by taking the time to read this and I hope that you will forgive my rambling on. God bless the United States of America.



A Poem Worth Reading


He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the VFW,
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.."