Best Unknown Soldier Poems
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - Canada
We all know you now
You have fallen at our feet
You have guarded them all with life and limb
Noble and brave
Only to fall at a cowards last call
You have stirred the souls of the unknown heroes
Their appall shall seek the just dues of our defamers and saboteurs
Young lads who now welcome you in the hereafter
Shall haunt our enemies from near or afar
The drum rolls sound, as the rifles salute
The Unknown Soldier
You are unknown no more
Notes: In memory of Nathan Cirillo and Patrice Vincent both killed in cold blood on the week of Oct 26, 2014 by cowards in the name of Islam. Nathin Cirillo was standing guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Also in memory to the 1000’s of unknown soldiers, young men, who fought so that we may be free.
KNOWN JUST TO GOD AND ME
The Unknown Soldier
Rows and rows of snow white stones, no names upon their face.
Thousands more who went to war and left no earthly trace.
One unknown for all unknowns, Canada for thee,
I am the unknown soldier, known just to God and me.
Mother country’s call to war awakes a young man’s dream.
Escape from toil on barren soil to a uniform’s esteem.
No thoughts of mothers losing sons, just of a chance to roam,
A year to spare, go over there, defeat the Hun - come home!
Dark train rolling through the night toward the eastern sea.
Young soldiers seeking glory, not knowing what will be.
Last sight of home, across the foam, where the unleashed dogs of war
Will soon declare no glory there, just mud and blood and gore.
In Vimy’s tunnels warriors stand awaiting dreaded dawn,
Each one a knight in someone’s eyes, each one a front row pawn.
The hand of fate soon to decide the minutes or the years
Left to the souls who leave dark holes to face their greatest fears.
Comrades all around me fall, each fought his private war.
With will and might we take the height where others failed before.
Amid the sleet, the roar, the heat, the chaos all around,
I do not feel the bullet strike that drives me to the ground.
Buried in a blanket shroud, forgotten and alone,
“A Soldier of the Great War” inscribed upon my stone.
But then I’m chosen to return, across the same grey sea,
Back from my hell of shock and shell, back from the Ridge Vimy.
I lie in state and share my fate with mourners passing by.
A moment spared for one who dared, a tear in every eye.
From where I came and my own name known just to God and me,
In a hallowed space in a state of grace, I will spend eternity.
And once a year again I hear the cadenced cannons boom,
And feel the love from those above, the poppies on my tomb.
A country’s grief for her lost sons who kept her strong and free,
The Canada I died for upon the Ridge Vimy.
Rows and rows of snow white stones, no names upon their face.
Thousands more who went to war and left no earthly trace.
One unknown for all unknowns, Canada for thee,
I am the unknown soldier, known just to God and me.
I am the unknown soldier, known just to God and me.
Ellis Pringle Craig
June, 2019
I stand at your grave.
I do not know your name.
I know not where you are from.
Where you fought,
nor where you died.
The horrors and pain you suffered,
were not in vain.
The death and destruction brought you pain.
I weep at your grave,
for the life you gave.
I weep for the Mother,
that gave you that life.
I kneel before your grave.
I bow my head in gratitude to you,
The Unknown Soldier.
Forever Remembered.
There's flowers on the grave where this man lies,
The flowers on this grave will never wilt or die,
Thoughts of this person resting in this tomb,
Lay across this nation in every living room,
He died beneath the colors of the red,white and blue,
To keep people safe like me and you,
Nobody knows his name or his race,
All they ask is for on him will God shed his grace,
God please watch over this soldier that nobody knows,
And keep the others safe no matter where they go.
Green locusts whirl and flap above,
A long way from Chicago, love.
Out here, the armor piercing dove
will make you scream for mothers' love.
Through layers of mud, I'm still alive
if life just means what I survive.
The mortars thunk, I shove and dive.
I don't think I'm--------------------------.
The World of War: Vietnam.
Gerard F. Keogh Jr.
Voice of the Unknown Soldier
Do You Perhaps Remember Me?
Somehow I Hope You Do.
I'd Hate to Think You Don't Care
That I Gave My Life for You.
You Don't Think That Possible?
I Don't Even Know Your Name,
But it doesn’t Make Any Difference
I Died for Your Sake, Just the Same.
You're Here to Pay Your Respects,
And You Know I Never Grew Any Older
But I'm Glad You Care Enough to Visit,
The Grave....Of the Unknown Soldier
Connie Moore
unknown soldier
fallen unsung hero
without a name
Tribute To Our
Armed Forces
Thanks For Serving
I used to wonder if I’d get through
This war to end all wars
Ever get me a wife and a child
A home with grandchildren too.
Mum cried when I signed up
But I did it for her as well
I was no frightened young pup
The honour, the glory sounded swell.
For king and country we all must fight
To protect our kith and kin
I remembered she cried to sleep that night
When her baby boy was called in.
I was a man, a hero; you never know it could be fun
But none died like they did in the picture-house
No hero standing blowing in the barrel of his gun
Men didn’t fall silent as the proverbial mouse.
One minute they were there, the next they were gone
Some vanished in misty red mud and air
Friends for life, or seconds, fell one by one
Life sucked out painfully, cruelly, not fair.
I wondered if I would ever take a wife
How I curse this war had begun
But in my heart, I know I will not live this life
I am sure now as the setting of the evening sun.
Mourn me please those that gave me the chance to live
I’m stunned into silence, no thoughts just fears
I know now there is nothing more I can give
Remember, I love you, please don’t shed many tears.
Will I go home, have children and glory
Will somebody know of me one hundred years on
Will somebody find me and tell my story
No Kith or Kin, will all memory be gone?
© MT
Tales of heroes beyond, the normal despair of war’s plight,
Hearing of these stories, make us all quiver, in the night.
Each of them that go to fight, any battle, with all their might,
Universally, they are unknown soldiers, until names are released.
None knows the others, until their soul’s battle, against the beast.
Kings and political heads, never battle, for what they believe.
Never placed in harms way, they send soldiers; Mothers grieve
Only the loyal subjects take on the heat, from what they weave.
We honor, the Unknown Soldier, without any name, to perceive.
Nearer to God, these soldiers are known, here only deceased.
Secure, they have left us all, until the next battle to be fought.
Onward, we keep sending those to die, for what, a thought.
Listen, to all the stories, we hear of bravery, by them all.
Dear sweet Jesus, take them to your father, standing so tall.
I never fought any battle; I fight my battles with expressions.
Each of us must remember, soldiers, in their professions.
Remembering, who they could have been, not just impressions.
At the foot of the unknown soldier
I heard them speak about the past
The generation born after the war
I heard them sing of warfare
Like children recite rhymes
I heard their threats of war
Even from lands abroad
I heard them talk about
Fighting to the last man
As though they knew
The pain of a mother letting her son
Go to fight for the fatherland
Or the anguish of comrades
Falling to foes in battle
And embarking on lonely journeys
Into immortal provinces
The generation born after the surrender
Speak of fanning the embers of war
And lacing the drums hung for decades
They say war is the only path to freedom
Unknown to them that
Men fall like cattle in battle
Where rifles rattle in senseless rage
And men long to return home to
Laugh with families and neighbours for
The gory sight of blood and torn flesh
Is not worth the hopeless glory
The commanders seek
It is not a tale for one’s children
So, when I heard them say the ended war
Needed to be revived because
One clan lays claim to perpetuity
I knew they were oblivious that
Those who started the war
Were absentee members of platoons
Whose children mounted no wagon
Destined for the warfront
Where helpless soldiers turn to dust
While the new generation yet spoke
I heard the voices of many unknown soldiers
On both sides of the fraternal war
Echo from unmarked graves on the battlefield
I heard them ask if the war was a good cause
I heard them ask if any side won the war
I heard them ask if we won freedom
I heard them ask if they were given
Heroes’ burials with the band playing
I heard them ask if those who started the war
Were now satisfied and cared for their kith
I heard them ask if they had not died in vain
And if this generation knew not the woes of war.
In the morning I heard howling in the air,
The most rooted oak bows in awe and swear,
In the prior gleam of sunset, were greeted with pride,
In perilous fights, our flags and stars never hide.
What induces a nation's pillars strong?
How is it gifted to fend off such a throng?
Never neglect those who fought and died,
Or those we never recalled whom some cried.
Grieving older men salute the flag,
Ladies around tombs shout in anguish and pride,
Kids hoist bitty banners and are dressed in drag,
When the honor-bound penance is tied.
Let's commemorate our unknown troops,
Whose loyalty to our nation doesn't loop,
Let's respect their zeal; they crave to do right,
Defend America, so we may rest easier at night.
Veritably, I assumed a secure homecoming,
From the fighting zones of our soldiers,
I pray for the return of each hero by drumming,
Our young men's war is on our shoulders.
Let's respect our heroes, who suffer hardship,
Their rigor we can't fathom, that's a sharp tip,
Defending what it proves to be an American,
Depict the colors aiming to induce a comparison.
Who oversees our freedom and chance?
Armed boots showed our assertiveness,
Not our blood kin, but a lady's tendance
Family pain, heart, soul, and brain toughness.
O, courageous fighters, hunt out the blight,
Of furious rebels, we'll sing the eulogy of plight,
Your green Berets are prized with high esteem,
Impede your goals as you shout and scream.
Written: July 23, 2022
To Honor My Hero Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Anoucheka Gangabissoon
The Unknown Soldier
So many thousands have died
So many needless wars
Every land in the world has one
A man who died
Fighting for his country
No one will ever know his name
How he died
Where he took his last breath
Still, he is honored
Never forgotten
He lies in a cold crypt
Alone with no family coming to mourn him
He rests
His soul looking down from Heaven
He knows that someone, somewhere loves him
Even though they don’t know where he is
They mourn for him
Even though they do not know that he was a hero
He is The Unknown Soldier
And, after all these years
He is a national hero
Someone to be respected and honored
Even if no one knows his name
Unknown Soldier from Newfoundland
finally back home in his native land;
long ago he laid down his gun,
his trials and tribulations all done;
he was someone's beloved son...
part of a small nation,
part of a lost generation...
we honour him...
we remember them...
a humble "Thank you" seems to hardly suffice
given their service and ultimate sacrifice...
Lest we forget.
For Memorial Day, 2023...
Rest now
The wind knows your name
It is heard in the song it sings to the stars
Now you can rest
And rest assured that no day
Shall erase you
From the memory of time
The call of assembly long overdue
named the forgotten from ages thru
From countless wars of eras ascended
pain still fresh, wounds never mended
The screams before the darkness took
Their lives blackened without another look
Scattered bones in foreign lands
dug up diligently by God's own hands
Heaven's roster penned the missing and lost
Those who fought valiant with a cost
Now fierce warriors all stood by
as summoned spirits filled the sky
Hobnailed sandals, barefooted, steel toe boot
marched in unison without dispute
Foes in combat never friends
united at the battle end.
Angels kissed the blood-stained brow
awarded each their sacrifice vow
Hasta pura the Romans’ spear held high
A golden Katana bestowed the fearless Samurai
The “Sword of the Sea” the Chinese swayed
while a Viking warrior sailed away
An Apache fighter reclaimed his land
the ancient Maori received his brand
The Medal of Honor secured its place
on innocent faces who left no trace
Fought to the end with unheard cries
Fought to the death by infinite lies
Rest well Soldier, you nameless soul
your seeds finally planted in fields of gold
Fallen heroes with deeds overlooked
Final reward in life’s eternal book.