*A Soldier's Tale*<br /><br /><br />*He was getting old and paunchy<br />And his hair was falling fast,<br />And he sat around the Legion,<br />Telling stories of the past.<br /><br />Of a war that he once fought in<br />And the deeds that he had done,<br />In his exploits with his buddies;<br />They were heroes, every one.<br /><br />And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors<br />His tales became a joke,<br />All his buddies listened quietly<br />For they knew where of he spoke.<br /><br />But we'll hear his tales no longer,<br />For ol' Bob has passed away,<br />And the world's a little poorer<br />For a Soldier died today.<br /><br />He won't be mourned by many,<br />Just his children and his wife.<br />For he lived an ordinary,<br />Very quiet sort of life.<br /><br />He held a job and raised a family,<br />Going quietly on his way;<br />And the world won't note his passing,<br />'Tho a Soldier died today.<br /><br />When politicians leave this earth,<br />Their bodies lie in state,<br />While thousands note their passing,<br />And proclaim that they were great.<br /><br />Papers tell of their life stories,<br />From the time that they were young,<br />But the passing of a Soldier<br />Goes unnoticed, and unsung.<br /><br />Is the greatest contribution<br />To the welfare of our land,<br />Some jerk who breaks his promise<br />And cons his fellow man?<br /><br />Or the ordinary fellow<br />Who in times of war and strife,<br />Goes off to serve his country<br />And offers up his life?<br /><br />The politician's stipend<br />And the style in which he lives,<br />Are often disproportionate,<br />To the service that he gives.<br /><br />While the ordinary Soldier,<br />Who offered up his all,<br />Is paid off with a medal<br />And perhaps a pension, small.<br /><br />It's so easy to forget them,<br />For it is so many times<br />That our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,<br />Went to battle, but we know,<br /><br />It is not the politicians<br />With their compromise and ploys,<br />Who won for us the freedom<br />That our country now enjoys.<br /><br />Should you find yourself in danger,<br />With your enemies at hand,<br />Would you really want some cop-out,<br />With his ever waffling stand?<br /><br />Or would you want a Soldier<br />His home, his country, his kin,<br />Just a common Soldier,<br />Who would fight until the end.<br /><br />He was just a common Soldier,<br />And his ranks are growing thin,<br />But his presence should remind us<br />We may need his like again.<br /><br />For when countries are in conflict,<br />We find the Soldier's part<br />Is to clean up all the troubles<br />That the politicians start.<br /><br />If we cannot do him honor<br />While he's here to hear the praise,<br />Then at least let's give him homage<br />At the ending of his days.<br /><br />Perhaps just a simply headline<br />In the paper that might say:<br />"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."*
