By: Patty O'Grady Aloot, Ph.D. Dedicated In Honor Of Her Father, Colonel John O'Grady Missing-In-Action

I'm the unknown soldier
Who you refuse to know.
I'm the brother and the friend
You left so long ago.

I'm a farmer from Missouri
A soldier from St. Paul.
I'm my sister's hero
I'm the name on the Wall.

I'm the unknown soldier
The one you left behind.
I'm the country boy from Texas
Who you never tried to find.

I'm someone's long-lost daddy
I'm my father's pride and joy.
I was someone's gentle lover
And someone's little boy.

I'm the unknown soldier
With no tears to shed.
I'm the ghost of Christmas past,
I'm the living dead.

I'm a sailor and a scholar
I'm the boy who lived next door.
I'm the poet and the dropout,
You sent to fight your war.

I'm the unknown soldier
Who dreamed you'd rescue me.
I'm the man who understands,
Only death will set me free.

How could you just forget me?
Should I forget you too?
You must try to bring me home,
For I belong to you.

I'm the unknown soldier
Whose cries are all in vain.
Would you finally come for me,
If you could feel my pain?

My country has betrayed me
But I've forgiven you.
And, every night I pray to God,
That He'll forgive you too.

I'm tired and I'm hungry
I'm lonely and I'm cold.
I'm the unknown soldier,
Who's been bought and sold.

If you would look around you
You would see my face.
That man standing next to you,
Could be here in my place.

I'm the unknown soldier,
The one for who you cried.
I'm the one that you can't face,
The one they told you died.

We fought that war together,
At Mu Gia and Pleiku.
Had you been the one we left,
I would have come for you.

I'm the unknown soldier
Who longs to be set free.
When you called, I answered,
Now will you answer me?

I want to lie down beside you,
I want to die in your arms.
I just want you to hold me,
And, help me to hang on.

I'm the unknown soldier,
The one you threw away.
Some call me POW....
Some call me MIA....
It is never too late to honor a Hero.

The above poem was the inspiration for the song,
the Unknown Soldier by Carl Klang.
Visit Carl on the WWW at http://www.klang.com