My fifth- and sixth-great-grandfathers

Fought in the War for Independence;

My second-great grandfather

Fought in the War Between the States.

My great-uncle, my grandfather’s brother,

Fought in the War to End All Wars;

My uncles, brothers to my Dad,

Fought in the Second World War,

And Uncle Otto never came home.

My father, though he never saw combat,

Fought in the war against communism.

We remember.

 

My grandfather and I

Never fought those wars.

Too young for the last,

Too old for the next,

We had to count on others

To shed their blood for us.

But while we, he and I,

Shared gladness that we

Never stared down the barrel

Or marched through the blood,

We also have shared the gratitude

For what those other did

And have accepted the duty to

Fight the war at home.

The war for decency--

The war for righteousness--

The war for acceptance--

The war for family--

The war against corruption

And arrogance and social slavery.

We, he then and I now,

Fight the war to keep

Our communities safe and secure

And prosperous enough--

And proud enough --

To wave our flags

And to march through our streets

To the cemeteries where lie

Those who fought the other wars.

And we remember.

 

And we fight so that our children

And grandchildren

Will have the right

And the ability

And the willingness

To remember.

 

God bless America

And all Her loyal sons and daughters.