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Too Many Return In Boxes

So many young men go off to war smiling, spirits high
  Too many return in boxes, folks asking 'Why?'

The leaders who sent them off speak of heroism and sacrifice
  Easy for them, these fancy words, when others risk their life

We say that freedom isn't free, that blood is the price of liberty
  But is any country really worth a soldier's life, the ultimate fee?

An Israeli general was asked this question and it stopped him cold
  For a long minute... when he answered, in a voice quavering and bold

That in Kishinev 50 Jews were slaughtered in a pogrom back in 1903
  And the whole world, outraged, cried out against that violent insanity

Yet just 40 years later, in Hitler's crematoria, Jewish blood seemed cheaper
  As the general hugged me tight, I understood what he could weep for

Copyright © Gershon Wolf | Year Posted 2019

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W.A. Cholt Date: 4/28/2019 6:40:00 PM A powerful message that needs reiterating time and time again. Login to Reply Gershon Wolf Date: 4/28/2019 8:05:00 PM Thank you for the support, my friend. Appreciated. ~ gw

Kim Rodrigues Date: 4/28/2019 1:00:00 PM Gershon, have you read my poem “ALONE AT THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM”? What is the cost of liberty? Young men go off to war, see and hear inexplicable things. Come home often broken and sometimes not at all. So when we live, we should live our best life, love with each breath and be courageous for all that give us freedom. Evil exists for how could many report or stand by knowing that families were being torn apart, witnessing the horrors of shaming and ultimately turning backs not wanting to know what was happening to those being taken away. And yet, the horror invaded many of their own homes, where they fled, babies starved, etc... Evil digs its own grave! Login to Reply Gershon Wolf Date: 4/28/2019 1:07:00 PM Your remarkable, unforgettable comment is a tribute to your character, Kim...and as someone who lost family members on his father's side, gassed in Hitler's 'showers,' I am grateful to find someone like you, these days, who recognizes evil for what it was and is. Thank you. Thank you. Best wishes, Gershon

Maureen McGreavy Pigeon Tart Date: 4/28/2019 9:03:00 AM Wowsah. Potent, important piece my dear friend. xomo Login to Reply Gershon Wolf Date: 4/28/2019 10:18:00 AM Thank you for your support on this one, M.M. I think it's kind of important too. (Pretty rare air for me). Much appreciated. :) gw

Tom Cunningham Date: 4/28/2019 1:54:00 AM What country is really worth dying for? Most run by leaders who are liars, corrupt and wouldn't give you the time of day if they met you. But they're good when mouthing off their speeches, you're defending your freedom etc. Tom Login to Reply Gershon Wolf Date: 4/28/2019 8:51:00 AM Exactly, Tom. Perhaps you remember the discussion in All Quiet on the Western Front: The soldiers in the trenches proposed that the leaders of France and Germany duke it out in the ring---a fight to the death. I kind of like that idea. Thanks for your insights. :) gw