May 28, 2007

MEMORIAL DAY

This evening we went to a nice local Memorial Day service. Actually, we almost didn't make it. I thought I knew which park it was at, but I was mistaken. We drove around for a long time trying to figure out where it was in town. I nearly gave up, but the last place we looked was correct. My husband teased me that I was ready to cut and run.

The ceremony was simple but nice. A local 8th grader read a lovely essay he wrote for the VFW's Patriot's Pen essay contest. And there's something completely humbling about being in the presence of POWs. I got choked up every time I looked at their group.

This year I don't quite have anything poetic to say about Memorial Day. But that doesn't mean that certain families haven't been on my mind all day long. This year I'll leave the poetry to PFC Becker:

We are soldiers.
We are soldiers in the United States Army.
We are trained to be all we can be.

We fight for the freedom of many citizens of the United States.
We are all ready to meet our fates.

We all volunteer to defend the red, white and blue.
Not only the flag, but for the citizens of our great country too.

Since our country's birth for all these years,
we have been trained to be the best on Earth.

Many times we have went to war.
We will be involved in many more.

Generation by generation soldiers continue to enlist.
Some of us will got to war and definitely be missed.

Some soldiers will return and some won't.
Those who do not, we won't forget and we hope you don't.

Many of us are going to Iraq.
Some of us won't be coming back.

We have loved ones we are leaving behind.
They will always be in our prayers, hearts and mind.

If we don't make it home safely at the end of the war,
just remember we died defending the beliefs of those of many more.

---PFC Gunnar Becker, November 2003


Posted by Sarah at May 28, 2007 06:34 PM | TrackBack
Comments

my humble thanks.....
it's been a rough day.....

Posted by: debey at May 28, 2007 09:42 PM

They're always on our minds.

Posted by: Nicole at May 29, 2007 07:18 AM

That poem would be grammatically correct if it read "many times we have GONE to war" not "many times we have WENT to war." How about start defending the english language a little bit? I'd rather have that protected than a useless green zone in baghdad.

Posted by: Will at May 30, 2007 05:52 AM

Fuck you, Will. That soldier died in service to his country, so he can use whatever fucking grammar he wants. You are seriously one of the nastiest, lowest people I've ever encountered. Grow up.

Posted by: Sarah at May 30, 2007 12:51 PM

Hey Will - How about defending human decency, you sick fuck?

You wanna know why I think the world is so twisted? Because good, decent, sometimes grammatically incorrect people like Gunnar Becker take a .50 cal round through the fucking head. To make it worse, educated dick beaters like you get to spout poison, spread hate, and dishonor others. Fuck you and fuck your grammar. You're still a worthless piece of shit whether or not you know how to utilize the English language.

Rot in Hell.

Posted by: Erin at May 30, 2007 09:37 PM