A Veteran Died Today

Sent to me in email I thought I would share it here:

A Veteran Died Today

He was getting old and paunchy, and his hair was falling fast;
and he sat around the post home, telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he had fought in the deeds that he had done;
sharing exploits with his buddies, all were heroes, everyone.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
all his comrades listened, for they know whereof he spoke.

But, we'll hear his tales no longer, for ol' Virgil has passed away,
and the world's a little poorer, for a VETERAN DIED TODAY.

No, he won't be mourned by many, just his children, family and
friends, for Virgil lived a plain and ordinary sort of life.

He held a job, raised a family and quietly went his way,
and the world won't note his passing, 'tho a VETERAN DIED TODAY.

See, when politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
while thousands note their passing, and proclaim that they were great.

Their life stories are grandly told, from the time 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 promises and cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary person, who in times of war and strife,
goes off to serve this Country and offers up his life?

Now, the politician's salary and the style in which he lives
are sometimes disproportionate to the services he gives.

While the ordinary Veteran, 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 our Virgils, Jims and Larrys went to battle, that we know.

It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
who won for us the freedom that our Nation now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger, with an enemy at hand,
would you really want some "cop out" with his wishy-washy stand?

Or, would you want a Veteran who swore he would defend
GOD, COUNTRY, FAMILY, and would fight until the end.

Yes, he was just a common Veteran and his ranks are growing thin,
but his presence still reminds us, we may need his kind again.

For when foreigners are in trouble, then the Military's part,
is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

So, if we cannot do him honor, while he's here to hear the praise,
then at least let's pay him homage at the ending of his days.

Perhaps a simple headline in the paper that might say:
OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING....FOR A VETERAN DIED TODAY..
 

A really quick search online and I found the author, here. Though I'm grateful that you posted it, please, let's try to give credit where credit is due, and not just rely on what we read in emails. Thanks be from me, an author, and I'm wishing you a wonderful day.

***

A Veteran Died Today

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past.
Of the war he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies, they were heroes, everyone.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer, for ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for a veteran died today.

No, 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, quietly going 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 they were great.
Papers tell their life stories, from the time 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 sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary veteran, who has 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 our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians and their compromises 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 who swore he would defend
GOD, COUNTRY, and FAMILY, and 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, then we find the military'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, for a veteran died today.

© by Lawrence Vaincourt
 
A really quick search online and I found the author, here. Though I'm grateful that you posted it, please, let's try to give credit where credit is due, and not just rely on what we read in emails. Thanks be from me, an author, and I'm wishing you a wonderful day.

Gdcleanfun, I did not post this as a statement of fact or as proof of something. I posted it as a poem that honors fallen Vets which it was meant to do. However, if you look at the bottom of the poem it does show who the author is: © by Lawrence Vaincourt. Again the main reason was to honor fallen vets.
 
Gdcleanfun, I did not post this as a statement of fact or as proof of something. I posted it as a poem that honors fallen Vets which it was meant to do. However, if you look at the bottom of the poem it does show who the author is: © by Lawrence Vaincourt. Again the main reason was to honor fallen vets.

I understand your reason for posting the poem. My main reason for saying what I did is because, nope, sorry, the author's name does not show up on your post.
 
I understand your reason for posting the poem. My main reason for saying what I did is because, nope, sorry, the author's name does not show up on your post.

You know what, I'll apologize for making the cut and paste short. Hope you have a wonderful day.
 
Nice, Thank You Sir.
thank you sir,we all need to rember the vet's from all wars. all the ww1 vet's ar gone,ww2 vets are being lost every day as are korea&viet-nam vets and now we are losing young warriors from my children's generation, so if you see a vet thank them for your freedom to live as we do!
 
WWII, Korea and Nam

A thousand or more die every day, soon all the WWII guys and gals will be gone. The Vietnam guys will be 20-30 years longer

Appreciate them, they fought died and built post-war USA. Lets keep it. And pat an old solider on te back and say Thanks.
 

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