' 58 '

A thousand men were dying
but I really didn't care
I was in college, with a 2-S rating
I wasn't over there
But late one night, in agony
I heard the haunting cry
and knew I had to be with them
these Soldier's set to die.

I said good-bye to my pregnant wife
marched off that day to War
and a thousand men were dying
Maybe a little more

11Bravo, my MOS, Oh..the horror I quickly felt
my friends who died in front of me
legs weak....and so I knelt.
and ask an Angel to guide me home
to see my wife and child

while a thousand men were dying
it didn't make me proud

I was good at what I did
and still can beat the odds
but I came home changed a different man
a piece of me now trod.
For twenty-two years I beat them all
except for that fateful day
when I stopped to view the 'Traveling Wall'
it should not have been this way!
It was not a thousand men I saw
but 58 times that much
I could not stand, nor could I speak
I could not even touch.

The names reached out and grabbed my throat
A Thousand at a time
and filled my eyes with tears of grief
our leaders again had lied.
and now I'm fighting to stay alive
for the Jacks' and Toms' and Bills'
To help a Brother who cried my name
I guess I always will.

Dave/11Bravovet 11-10-98

Walterville

This morning was not your typical day
at least not so for me.
In anticipation I arose very early
this Day I wanted to see.
But I had no idea at all
what before me lay
what comforts I would find so simple
Set out before me today.

For you know now is Veterans Day
at my keyboard I read my mail
and saw Thanks from mothers, and wives, and sons,
More touching than I can tell.

With tears in my eyes I had to leave
couldn't take all this just alone
So I drove to the Deer Horn Valley to see
If my friend Gary just might be home.

And alas,turning when I left his door
the tear still streaked my face
not finding him home I retraced my steps
to another quiet place.

There on a hillside, in the rising mist
some deer quietly nearby fed
but they couldn't comfort a memory of mine
didn't know really what I said.

On the way home I stopped at a market
I really don't know why
Except for the table and two quiet soldiers
That's really what caught my eye.

A card table there, with a jar and some poppies
For a quarter you could have your pick
But I gave then a five-spot, said Welcome Home
then lingered to talk just a bit.

One of those there, Pinkerton the name,
a familar map on his chest
2nd of the 9th Marine was his unit
I knew by the eyes of his test.

The other much older a WW2 vet
Navy tanker he said was his ride
And as we spoke, they rose from their chairs
I could feel then the rising Pride.

I've never joined VFW groups
but this one meets my need
They welcomed me Home and asks my attendance
Was this finally my home indeed?

Just a small town this Walterville place
you'd pass if you blinked an eye
But more in tune to this Veterans Day Welcome
Big cities...Politicians....why?

Dave/11bravovet 11-11-98

Parade

There were many high points for me today
but the Highest of them all
Paducah, Kentucky was having a Parade
Jimmie Alexander got the call.

For back in '68 in Vietnam, A Marine was shot 9 times
And now he is my Brother, my friend
the driving of my rhymes.

He did not ride in that parade alone
58,000 vets stood to salute
They were all there
including I,
standing tall in spit-shined boots.

And with the flags waving, and drums to the beat
Each child on the sidewalks
with faces so sweet,
Will remember this Day now
and hopefully pass
To their children a sight of
A Soldier with Class!
Thanks...Jimmie

In Salute...Dave/11bravovet 11-11-98

Sent to Cynthia Webber by a friend
Posted here so we all remember

What is a vet?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg-or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.

You can't tell a vet just by looking. What is a vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She -or he- is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another -or didn't come back AT ALL. He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no account rednecks and gang members into soldiers, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in the Tomb Of The Unknowns whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the oceans deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket-palsied now and aggravatingly slow-who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the greatest nation ever known.

So remember each time you see someone who has served our country just lean over and say "thank you"....that's all most people ever need and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, 'THANK YOU' So again, I say thank you to you....Love and hugs, Jeannine

author:...Bob Jack

God Bless You All, My Brothers that have gone Before me,
and especially My brothers that never came Home,
and A Special Blessing to the ones that came after me
and the New Breed Of Brotherhood,
No Matter What Branch of Service you Decide to Chose.

God Bless you All...
Semper Fi, Bill
ICQ # 4241413

GOD BLESS THE USA

Hello! Remember Me?
Some call me Old Glory, others call me the Star Spangled Banner,
but whatever they call me, I am your Flag -
the Flag of the United States of America...

There has been something that has been bothering me, so I thought that I might talk it over with you here today.
I remember some time ago, (I think it was Memorial Day, or was it Veterans' Day?)
that people were lined up on both sides of the street for a parade.
A high school band was behind me and, naturally, I was leading the parade.
When your Daddy saw me coming along waving in the breeze, he immediately removed his hat
and placed it so that his right hand was directly over his heart.

And you - I remember you.
Standing there as straight as a soldier, you didn't have any hat,
but you were giving me the right salute.
Remember, they taught you in school to place your right hand over your heart,
and little sister, not to be outdone, was saluting the same as you.

There were some soldiers home on leave and they were standing at attention giving the military salute.
Oh, I was very proud as I came down your street that day.

Now, I may sound as if I am a little conceited, Well I am!
I have a right to be, because I represent you, the people of the United States of America.

But what happened? I am still the same old flag.
Oh, I have a couple more stars added since you were a boy.
A lot more stars added since the beginning of this country,
and and lot more blood shed since that patroitic day so long ago.

Now I don't feel a proud as I used to.
When I come down your street, some people just stand there with their hands in their pockets and give me a small glance and then look away.
I see children running around and shouting.
They don't seem to know who I am.

Is it a sin to be patriotic anymore?
Have some people forgotten what I stand for?
Have they forgotten all the battlefields where men have fought and died to keep this nation free?
When you salute me you are actually saluting them!

Take a look at the memorial rolls some time.
Look at the names of those who never came back.
Some of them were friends and relatives of yours. That's whom you are saluting, not me!

Well, it won't be long until I'll be coming down your street again.
So, when you see me, stand straight,
place your hand over your heart and you'll see me waving back--
that's my salute to you.
And then I will know you remember who I am...

Author unknown:
Sent to me by Bill, my Thanks!

November Days

What do you see at Arlington,
white stone ...or Soldier's eyes?
What is the sound along the "Wall",
the wind...or Mothers' cries?

Korean War memorial
cold marble...do you feel?
Or is there a pulse within the touch
that makes you stop and kneel?

When you take the trip across Pearl Harbor
Do you smell the rising oil?
black billowing smoke...have meaning for you?
Locked in a Battle Royal.

When the cannon resounds at a football game
Do you turn to see the score?
Or is your memory jogged
To fields of red
the bodies of the Civil War.

This summer along a hot-white Beach
did you touch it with your hand?
Oh yes, Desert Storm...not too distant be
but fought on similar sand

On a cold rainy day
did you think of him there?
Eyes hollow in mud or snow.

Please tell me these things before I die
I'd really like to know.

Please raise your children to practice these words
Then I'll leave you alone in Peace.

This poem by a Vietnam Veteran
you see.

Whos memories will never
Cease!

Written for Veterans Everywhere..11-08-98
Dave/11bravovet

Jack Imlah

He caught my curves and sliders
on a hot day in July
But he never made it Home my friend
God chose him there to die.

He also was an 11bravo like me
but a Marine 0311
He still can catch the curve ball but
he catches now in heaven.

I made a vow today , so sad
to speak with his Mom and speak with his Dad.

I did not have to travel far, since I spoke to them
in Prayer
I'll leave this message on the Web
So Jack will know I care

For you see , Jack checks it often
To see the words of Vets
And what you write,
makes a catcher smile..
Gave his life
with no regrets.

Dave/11bravovet

Fiftyish

There comes a time in all men's lives
'bout forty-five for me
When all the memories of a veterans life
made it hard for me to see.

And on top of that, I feel alone
my children now most gone
with their young ones cradled in their laps
the visits aren't too long.
Cat's in the Cradle a favorite song
words come back to me now
Oh..to have the days again
Rhymes of a spoon and a cow...*S

But face it like a man of 50?
the children and the War?
Can't ever heal if I feel sorry
Can't make it up no more.

Instead I smile at young ladies passing
who seem to call me "Dad"

and grandchildren call me "Pop"--so what
It doesn't make me mad

No , that's a different story friend
A different time and place
When banners were carried in the streets
each Soldier felt disgrace
Shrug it off--forget the past--
Don't spout PTSD they say to me
I know of those wheelchair bound
With wounds for all to see.

Compassion..? yes--more than you'll know
I help them when... I try
Don't need to ask me why I do
Reflections in the "Wall" is why
Now I can hold my head up friend
I hear the distant call
This Brother only wants the Peace
Just make the choice..
That's all.

Dave/11bravovet 11-10-98

Veterans Day 1998

This week the flags will wave again
We'll march down a city street
We'll try to keep the cadence
with grown old two left feet
We're Veterans who have served our land
in places far and wide
Today we will be smiling
we won't show the hurt inside
The land that we all fought for
is changing day by day
The people just don't seem to care
as their freedoms slip away
The Constitution was once sacred
a document held dear
Our founding fathers gave to us
a message once so clear
Now lying is accepted
and other things as bad
But we will show our smiles today
pretend that we are glad
We will be with our Brothers
and yes our Sisters too
We ones who wore the uniform
and kept our honor true
We fought to keep this Country free
were our battles all in vain
My land , my Country..'Tis of thee
Can we be free again?

author: Bob Prinselaar

Wolf's Den

Don't Believe in Angels?

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