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After reading the Lament
Click the Arch Monument at the bottom and Read the Soldiers Eulogy
JUST A COMMON SOLDIER
(A Soldiers Lament) as
amended by L.J. Lawver Sr.
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the VFW Halls, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his VFW buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no more for the old man has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for an old soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
The world won't note his passing, although 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 their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a Veteran goes unnoticed and unsung.
A 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.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend,
His home, his kin and Country and 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, then 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 a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
Click the Arch and Read
the Soldiers Eulogy
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