Re: Salute to vets
I would like to salute all our vets past and present for protecting me and my family and giving me the freedoms I enjoy today. <br /><br />I will always be in your debt.
<br /><br />JUST A COMMON SOLDIER<br />(A Soldier Died Today)<br />by A. Lawrence Vaincourt<br /><br />He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,<br />And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past<br />Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,<br />In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.<br /><br />And tho' sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,<br />All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.<br />But we'll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,<br />And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.<br /><br />He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,<br />For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.<br />Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,<br />And the world won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.<br /><br />When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,<br />While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.<br />Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,<br />But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.<br /><br />Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land<br />A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?<br />Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,<br />Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?<br /><br />A politician's stipend and the style in which he lives<br /> Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.<br />While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,<br /> Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.<br /><br />It's so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,<br />That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know<br />It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,<br />Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.<br /><br />Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,<br />Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?<br />Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend<br />His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?<br /><br />He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,<br />But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.<br />For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier's part<br />Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.<br /><br />If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,<br />Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.<br />Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,<br />Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
