Vietnam War Memorial Post 639
JUST
A COMMON SOLDIER
(A Soldier Died
Today)
by A. Lawrence
Vaincourt *
He was getting
old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
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, every one.
And tho' sometimes, to
his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies
listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his
tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world's a
little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned
by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an
ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised
a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world
won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave
this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note
their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their
whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a
soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest
contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his
promises 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?
A politician's stipend
and the style in which he lives
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.
It's so easy to forget
them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of
our Country 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.
Should you find
yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a
politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a
soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and
Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common
soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence
should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are
in conflict, then we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the
troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him
honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's
give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple
headline in a paper that would say,
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, FOR A SOLDIER DIED TODAY
!!"
* This piece was written in
1985 by WW II veteran A. Lawrence Vancourt for his newspaper column. It
has since been reprinted in the 1991 collection "Rhymes &
Reflections" and currently in the new book "Just A Common Soldier and
other Poems".
If you are interested follow this
link to Randy Vancourt's web site: http://randyvancourt.homestead.com/