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| Walt Harvey, a resident of Honolulu, in Vietnam. |
Long forgotten by some;
Ever present to others;
Those comparatively few;
Who fought and served for us
A war distained by many;
Misunderstood by most;
Even those who were called;
To give up their worldly existence
And survived …;
Only to return to a home;
To a land in upheaval …;
Couldn’t grasp the significance
Just what they were fighting for;
What they were doing for us;
Especially the "us" that hated them …;
That were so very misguided
But I do;
I understand why you were there;
My dear friends, I understand;
Even if you still don’t
You were fighting for me;
For me, and my pathetically mundane life;
For my chance at the American Dream;
For my off-times lamented existence
You were fighting for my chance …;
For my chance for opportunity;
For my chance to love, in freedom;
You fought for me
You gave your lives … your lives;
Whether spiritually or actually;
So that I could have the freedom …;
To live my so-called "hard life."
Hard? Ha! How selfish of me;
To think I’ve had it rough …;
To think my life has been miserable …;
How very selfish of me, forgive, please …
I stand in awe of you, and am ashamed;
Ashamed that I felt so unrewarded;
Ashamed, compared to your sacrifice …;
Sacrificing your hearts, your lives
So that I could struggle;
So that I could travail;
So that I could fail …;
And fail again
You sacrificed;
So that I could scrape myself up;
From the bottom of life’s miseries;
And try once again to succeed
Whether drafted or not;
You gave all you had, and more;
So I could finally have a single chance;
For life and love
Life worth living;
Love worth pursuing;
Friendships in freedom;
And happy reunions with cherished ones
Your suffering was not a guarantee;
But a holy promise from God;
"For greater love hath no man than this;
That a man lay down his life for his friends."
- Ward Welch, 4-3-2004
