~ Just a Simple Soldier ~
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast
as he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past.
Of a war he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies, they were heroes - everyone.
And sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
but all his buddies listened, for they knew of which he spoke.
We'll hear his tales no longer, for our friends has passed away,
and the world's a little poorer, for a soldier was buried 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 his family, quietly going on his way, and the world won't note his passing: `tho a soldier was buried today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state. While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Newspapers 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 promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary guy, who in times of war or strife,
signs up to serve his country and offers up his life?
The politician's stipend and the style in which he lives,
are sometimes 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 was so long ago,
that those guys did something special, but nevertheless we know. It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys, who've earned for us the freedom that this 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 real soldier who swore he would defend, his home, his state, his country, and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and those ranks are growing thin,
but his presence should remind us, we'll need his likes again. For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier's part is to clean up all the troubles that 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 end of his days. Perhaps a simple headline in the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING - FOR A SOLDIER WAS BURIED TODAY."
~ Author Unknown
