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