Just a simple soldier
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Just a simple soldier
JUST A SIMPLE SOLDIER<br><br>He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast<br>And he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past,<br>Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done<br>In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, everyone.<br><br>And ‘tho sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,<br>All his buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.<br>But we’ll hear his tales no longer, for old Bob has passed away<br>And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.<br><br>No, he won’t be mourned by many, just his children and his wife, <br>For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life,<br>He held a job and raised a family, quietly going on his way;<br>And the world won’t note his passing; ‘tho a soldier died today.<br><br>When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,<br>While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great,<br>Papers tell of their life stories from the time that they were young,<br>But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed, and unsung.<br><br>Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land<br>Some jerk who breaks his promise and cons his fellow man?<br>Or the ordinary fellow who in times of war and strife<br>Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?<br><br>The politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives<br>Are sometimes disproportionate to the services that he gives,<br>While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,<br>Is paid off with a medal, and perhaps a pension small.<br><br>It’s so easy to forget them, for it was so long ago<br>That our Bob’s and Jim’s and Johnny’s went to battle, but we know<br>It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,<br>Who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys.<br><br>Should you find yourself in danger with your enemies at hand,<br>Would you really want some cop-out with his ever-waffling stand?<br>Or would you want a soldier who has sworn to defend<br>His home, his kin, and country, and would fight until the end?<br><br>He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin<br>But his presence should remind us, we may need his like again.<br>For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part<br>Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.<br><br>If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,<br>Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.<br>Perhaps a simple headline in the paper that might say:<br>OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, FOR A SOLDIER DIED TODAY.<br><br>Author Unknown<br>
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