THE SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER
I am a whisper on the wind, of times past, of places long
forgotten, Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Bataan, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Seoul,
Laos, Saigon, Cambodia, Kuwait. I am the heart of countless numbers of scarred
and maimed American veterans, and the soul of the buried unknowns,
I am an integral part of each white cross in Flanders
Field, and I am sealed within each name on 'The Wall'. I am part of each and
every headstone of every American soldier in every cemetery around the world.
I am deeply enmeshed in each tiny undiscovered bone
fragment of American soldiers, left behind on foreign soil. I am the unseen
shadows, the unheard voices in those many empty cells that once held my brothers
in unspeakable torture.
I am the unbearable pain in the hearts of every mother,
father, wife, husband, brother sister, and child, of missing American soldiers
from all wars. I am within each and every teardrop shed by these family members
for their unaccounted for loved ones.
I am the essence of each and every drop of blood shed in
the past or in the future, by an American soldier in the name of freedom. I am
the lifeblood of the colors of the American flag, blue for my loyalty and
unwavering dedication, white for my steadfastness, and red for my pride and love
of country.
I am the spirit of those names on the black Granite Wall,
of all those
unaccounted for in every war, of those who went away to war as
gallant young men and came back, older than time...OR NOT AT ALL.
I AM...THE SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER!
©1998
Beverly Haire
Dedicated to the memory of
T/Sgt. Richard M. Cole
Used with permission
To visit Beverly and read Richard's Story
Click Here
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