Just a Common Soldier

[Navy6064]

Just a Common Soldier



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 politiciains 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 foget 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.

1985 A. Lawrence Vaincourt

[Navy6064]

ODE TO A SAILOR

On a Sailors Grave no flowers grow,

Nor stones to mark them row on row,

No date to say when they did die,

No spot to mark where they must lie.

On a sailors grave no friend will come,

To kneel and say, I knew this one,

No grass to keep it cool and warm,

To help him sleep beneath a storm..

On a sailors grave it will not say,

How one fine day he sailed away.

To keep his nation free from strife.

And in that fight he gave his life.

On a sailors grave there is no way.

To read the reason he has gone away.

A Navy telegram came, it said:

“We regret he is missing, is not dead.”

On a sailors grave the sea rolls on,

Once he was here and now he is gone.

But do not grieve for a man of the sea,

There is no other way that he could be!