Thoughts of a Soon-to-be Veteran
Submitted by: Bruce Forbes
Author: Bruce T. Forbes
Date Sumbitted: Feb 27, 2006
Earlier this year, as I received notification of my pending retirement from the U.S. Air Force, I sat down and wrote the following poem. As today is Veteran's Day here in the U.S., I send this out as my thought. Enjoy.
Bruce "Bruceman" Forbes
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Thoughts of a Soon-to-be Veteran
By SSgt Bruce T. Forbes
Although my name will not be found in any history book;
I have helped make history.
Although there will be no memorial with my carved face,
I have still done great deeds.
Although I will never be quoted or referred to,
I have still said and done great things.
Although I have never meet the Great and Famous of my country,
I feel I have served with them -
I feel as if I have stood with Washington as he faced armies
That made his look so very small.
I feel as if I have stood on-deck with Jones
As he swore he'd never give up the ship;
Or with MacArthur as he strode across that foreign beach
And announced that he'd returned.
And what, you ask, have I learned?
I have learned that there are two ways to give your
life for your country:
One way to give your life for your country
Is to die that others may live free;
To fall in combat in defense of those principles which make us free.
On foreign soil as well as here at home
I have walked among the rows of stones
That stand as silent testament
Of the price the very few pay
That many, many others might live
With the freedoms
The dead will never enjoy.
At Gettysburg I have walked where so many of my brothers
Gave their last full measure of devotion -
And there I vowed to give my full measure each and every day,
That their sacrifice might not have been in vain.
In Hawaii I have walked in silence
Among the mass graves with no names,
Graves that were filled on the quiet day in December -
That will forever live in Infamy.
Among the silent there I swore I would live a life of
vigilance.
In England and Germany and France I have stood in the
Fields of Stone
And whispered to my comrades that their country is still free
And that their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Many of my comrades have paid this final price,
But Fate has chosen for me
The other way of giving one's life -
Fate chose that I must live, offering my life every day
To make the world a little more free.
Fulfilling this commission of living for my country
Has meant an almost-daily sacrifice -
It has meant being on-duty through birthdays and holidays -
So that others remain free to celebrate.
It has meant my seat at church has often been empty -
So that seats in all houses of worship can be freely occupied.
It has meant sacrificing many personal dreams
So that a nation might remain free to fulfill its dream.
It has meant leaving my family
While I went out into the world -
I was not at my mother's side when she was so very sick,
Because I was planting a garden for someone else's mother
While others rebuilt her ancient house
That had been destroyed by a bomb.
I was not at my father's side when he needed me so badly,
Because I was chasing sheep for someone else's father
-
Sheep that was his family's only income
And had been scattered by a war.
I was not with my wife when our baby was born
Because I was in a forest, holding the hands
Of a young widow escaping her country
As she give birth to her first child.
I was not there when my daughter was in the hospital
Because I was in a refugee camp,
Clutching a dying orphan to my chest,
Praying she might live.
There are times I truly wonder
If my own country has seen my sacrifice,
But I know the rest of the world has seen it -
They have seen that a soldier can bring life and hope
Into a world without life or hope.
And, perhaps, these quiet acts overlooked by my own people
Will be my only memorial.
But my real memorial will be
To always live for Freedom
As valiantly as others
Died for it.
In doing so,
We have both given our lives.
As a Veteran,
I stand tall and proud with those who came before me.
I stand as a companion to those who secured my freedom,
For I have fulfilled their commission
Of securing liberty
For my children.
And now, it is my children's turn
To secure those freedoms
For their children.