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I Am An American Soldier

They didn't ask for pity - they didn't ask for praise! 
 They didn't ask for medals - or military parade!
 They didn't ask for sorrow - when we laid them in their graves! 
 And they didn't ask to be hero's - but that's what they became,
 When Johnny, came marching home! 
 When Johnny came marching home that day, "OO-RAH"! "OO-RAH"! 
 They gave him NO hearty welcome then, "OO-RAH"! "OO-RAH"!  
 Yes some men did shout and women spat, and the boys with clout, they all turned  
 out, 
 They were ALL so brave then, when Johnny came marching home! 
 But those who spat and the boys with clout did not know what they spoke about, 
 but they all came out to blame Johnny for marching home!
 They all came out to blame Johnny for coming home!
 Yes, they were ALL, SO BRAVE, when Johnny came marching home on crutches
 with just one leg that day!   "OO-RAH" SOLDIER! 
 We promised we'd take care of them but 
 Somehow those noble words, like one old soldier said, 
 Don't die, they just fade away!
 Which one of you would have held a dying friend, all through that God-less night, 
 Bleeding, crying, dying, after a bloody fire-fight, 
 Trying the best you could to call in a Huey, and get him on a medevac flight at first
 light! Which one of you would have pick-up that fallen soldiers gun and just kept
 going on? 
 Which one of you would have fought again, until the battles won!  
 Instead we built a wall of stone / for the soldiers who did fall / then carved their
 names upon it, and called that welcome home!  
 They fought for the red, white and blue, all American soldiers, who fought for the
 red, white and YOU!
 And a family waits with pride, see, they just got word, only two more days and
 he'd be coming home for good.  Then at the door, two soldiers stood in the shadow
 of twilights glow, it seemed so surreal, but also apropos.
 With folded flag, of the stars and stripes in hand, at attention they did stand.  
 Then, with solemn grace and dignity said the words all families dread!
 "On behalf of a grateful nation, he fought the bravest  fight"!
 But with deepest sympathy, your soldier-son, won't be coming home tonight!
 
 They didn't ask for pity - they didn't ask for praise!
 They didn't ask to be hero's - but that's what they became!

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Poet Destroyer A

Date: 4/24/2016 9:58:00 AM

Tim Collins, an honor to read your poem. LINDA

Tim Collins
Date: 5/6/2016 7:43:00 AM

Thank you Destroyer A, It was my honor to write it! Good luck with your poems and writing! Tim Collins, former 82nd Airborne, Vietnam era!

Cynthia Buhain-Baello

Date: 5/23/2015 7:44:00 PM

A very moving and touching write on soldiers and the families they leave behind. You wrote this very intensely and truthfully it grips the heart, and draws a lot of respect and high regard for the service of soldiers. The repetition in the last lines added impact to it. Excellent piece!

Tim Collins
Date: 5/24/2015 9:18:00 AM

Thank you Cynthia! Glad you liked it! That's just the way I intended it to sound, guess I got it right! Look at the full version on All-Poetry.com, I couldn't fit it all in on Poetry Soup! Parts of it are also intended as a song, I'd love to hear Reba do it, but she's not taking my calls for some reason, LOL! Best regards and good luck with your poetry and writing too! Tim Collins.