A Veteran's Song

No one can understand…except another just like me.

Set apart…. sometimes set aside. I just wanted to be free.

I loved being a soldier…a sailor…an airman…or in the corps.

Sometimes it was the only thing that was worth living…or dying…for.

There was something about the uniform that made me stand taller than all the rest. 

And… it meant so much more…than just the medals on my chest.
 
I stood a little taller…I stood a little straighter…my head was held high. 

And I had little difficulty looking another person in the eye.

When I stood at attention…or at ease…or parade rest…

I knew I had within me what it took to stand the test.

Although considered a second class citizen…I stood tall and proud. 

My heart swelled with silent thoughts I dared not speak out loud.

Yet to my allegiance…I remained true. 

I had a job…I was on a mission…I took pride in what I do.

You sent me off to fight a war…that was not mine. 

And if I returned…sometimes it was…hostility I found.

Some of you treated me like I was the enemy. 

Yet I fought…sometimes I died…so that you could be free.

Those who made it back home…may not have been the lucky ones.

There are many ways to kill a man besides a missile or a gun.

There are some of us who live each day with the nightmare that is war.

And sometimes there is no one to remind us what we were fighting for.

So should…by chance…you run into an old soldier or marine,

Please take a minute and tell him or her how much their service really means.

A simple “thank you for service” would go a really long way…

In healing old wounds…soothing old hurts…that sometimes grow more painful every day.

And for those of us who served…Thank you.

And for those of us who survived…Thank you.

And for those of us who died…Thank you.

And for those of us who remain…Thank you.