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 once 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 buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Joe has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Veteran died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Veteran 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 of their life stories
From the time that they were young,
But the passing of a Veteran
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
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?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Veteran,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is 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 really want some cop-out,
With his ever-waffling stand?

Or would you want a Veteran
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Veteran,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Veteran,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his likes again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Veteran'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 the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A VETERAN DIED TODAY”

Author 'Unknown’

A lot of true wisdom in those simple lines
Thank you for posting

Nice !!

Awesome

Thanks

Thank you for this. We lost my father 7/20 of this year. Captain USAF SAC during Vietnam. Stationed on Okinawa where I was born. This pretty much sums it up!

A very Honorable epitaph poem to all Veterans that have made the Greatest Sacrifice.

When was he there? I went there TDY December 69 - February 70 restoring some rusty bombs.

Thanks for sharing.

This hit home. My 99 year old WWII neighbor passed away last week. He said the concentration camps were something he would never forget.

very good read , thanks

Should be mandated you can't sit in the house on the hill unless you served, politicians kids should be mandated to be the first drafted for every war and or serve at the age of 18.

71-73. He shuttled from there to Guam and the Phillipines as part of the B52 program.

I thank you for posting that truism!

My dad served in WW2, marine sniper then again in Korea, though there he served in Japan working as an interpreter and was only in Korea a few times

After his time was up he helped others that were having a hard time dealing with civilian life or service related injuries, even though he was also dealing with his own demons and service related injuries

He died 49 years ago yesterday, he was only 56

I miss him every day he was a heck of a guy