As a VietNam vet I want to share something I wrote in 2003. Happy Memorial Day to all veterans, active military and the Obama family
Passing the manicured lawns
masked by a driven snow,
infant John Phillip Benedict III
slept on his way to his first home
Early childhood memories
regattas, fox hunts, skiing in Vail
Following his grand father and father
at Dover School, the proper private school for the right families
Memories of visits to the Girls School
dancing, trying to meet the right girl
Finally finishing Dover, his academics suspect
The right calls by his proud Father,
accepted to Cornell
Five years of partying, fun, and two dui's, the undergraduate years gone
reggg3's diary :: ::
Law School at Yale,
a sudden move to maturity
Resulting as much from avoiding the military,
than growth in years
Practice for the Murphy Corporation,
defending against frivolous suits
Finally, thirty and distinguished in Bucks County,
a decision to "serve his County"
A successful run for the Big House
to represent his peers
Known for his elocution
and his endless defense
of the war in a hot desert,
advancing rapidly to leadership
Moving to the more deliberate half of bicarmelism
His first official duty, presenting
the Purple Heart to one who join to
"serve his County"
and a very different story
the sky a misty gray
he lived in a small cabin near the woods,
the dirt road in front led to nowhere like the dust blowing in the wind when the pedaling truck came
Youth was fun, playing tag and playing Indians and Cowboys, not even knowing that he was so poor that there were no toys
He always wanted to be the good dude with the gun and the hat
Never really caring about what was going on in the schoolhouse,
He would skip and go for a hike or fishing if his Dad did not know
Chores every morn to darkness,
taking the fruits of the chicken to his Mom
and milking the solitary cow
His Dad let him quit school when he was sixteen,
with nothing to do
and with hunger in the pits of his brother's and sister's stomach,
he swapped his overalls for the dress of greens to "save his homeland"
Shooting the clean shinning metal, and being proud to hit the mark
he became the good soldier holding his heart during the pledge with hat not on
then violence erupts in the desert heat
the years of training paying dividends
until the one glowing rocket came too close and the sharp edge of the shrapnel changed his heart to hews of purple
But his living Mom and his dying Dad were proud, "he had served his Motherland"