In Honor of the Veterans I Love….and the Veterans You Love….
Nearly every week at the Colesville Rotary Club, we have a poem before dinner. It is part Grace, part thought du jour, and often topical.....related to a holiday, the season or whatever is planned for that evening. This one was written quite a few years ago, but for the reason given below is often trotted out again….kind of like a favorite old Christmas ornament. It speaks to my soul, but then I wrote it....it will prove its value if it speaks to yours.
November 11, 2020
So….
I am repeating this poem in somewhat revised form – one of my favorites – in honor of the Day…and in tribute to those who have given their time, their service, and, for far too many, their lives to safeguard the freedoms and blessings we enjoy, yet so often take for granted. May Heaven bless them and their loved ones, who also bear the burden of service.
On countless
Fields of war is shed
The blood of soldiers,
Poppy red.
For freedom’s choice
Their youth must pay,
Yet fleeting peace
Soon fades away.
Our
Honored dead
We hold so dear,
Remembering
At this time of year
That freedom is paid for,
Not once or twice,
But through
Repeated sacrifice.
Thus, in respect,
Let’s bow our heads
And thank our God
For those who said,
“My country needs the likes of me,
My strength, my heart, my energy.
And if for my homeland
All is spent,
Please tell my children
Where I went.
Please tell them
Freedom isn’t cheap,
But a sacred trust
That all must keep.
And…thus in honor of the day,
Please think of me
And pause to pray.”
But, many who serve
Are living yet:
Let not our minds and hearts forget
The sacrifice and the agony
Endured for the sake of you…
Of me.
For physical wounds
That will never heal…
For inner wounds
That are just as real…
For beautiful children,
Who went to war,
And didn’t come back
As they were before…
For anguish, sacrifice,
Blood and pain,
And minds that couldn’t
Come home again…
We thank you for your service,
True….
Though none may know its depth
But you.
Amen.