Somewhere Tonight a Soldier Stands

Somewhere tonight a soldier stands The fate of freedom in his hands He mans his post, he stands his ground In trouble spots the world around He could be 18 or over 30 All spit and polish or down and dirty He might be wearing Army green Or the uniform of a proud Marine He could be Air Force flying cover Or Navy in their crafts that hover He could be Coast Guard on a river No matter what he will deliver He’s pledged to give up life and limb If that is what is asked of him And all he’ll ask for in return Is the respect that he has earned These footsteps that he chose to follow Echo through the years so hollow His grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s fought With Washington their freedom sought They rode with Grant or maybe Lee Fighting for their family And when the Kaiser declared war They joined to give the guy what for Then when that German Hitler reigned They signed up for that war’s campaign Korea in some frozen field They stood their ground, there was no yield And in the jungle, Vietnam Never knowing peace and calm They fight despite the known syndrome Of what awaits them back at home In Desert Storm and in Iraq And Afghanistan, they have our back They fight for honor, fight with pride But through the years so many died Though some may question why they fought Let’s end this now with this one thought Somewhere tonight a soldier stands The fate of freedom in his hands 6/25/12 We have a history club here in our community and the chairman of the club asked if I would write a poem for an upcoming meeting all about Vietnam with vets from each of the service talking about their experiences during that war. I wrote two poems - this is one I will read at the meeting.