First of all BC, I would like to say “Welcome Home!” and “Thank you for serving your country!”
Many of these things are not comfortable to us, but too many people put the sacrifices these young men and women made back in the closet like rolling up their flags after the 4th of July until next year.
I belong to a club that vows never to let anyone forget our POW-MIAs until the last one is accounted for. Their family’s deserve to bury their remains before the politicians can try to bury their memories! Seems some are always trying to sweep those left behind under the table & move on.
We always set an extra place at the table & an empty chair by it for Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. To let those POW-MIAs know, they are not forgotten & they always have a place where they will be welcome! I know you will never forget your friends like I will never forget mine. In my case, their were 4 of us left from the original 12. I lost one more after that by his own hands.
We also try to meet returning troops and welcome them home. Something you and I never received.
I wrote a poem called Welcome home for these young men and women. I know it is a clumsy attempt but I hope it gets my message across. Sorry for the length of this post, sometimes it just feels good to get some things off your chest.
Welcome Home
I welcomed you home when you stepped off the plane
And saw through your tense smile and recognized the pain
It doesn’t seem long though its been years ago
That I felt those same fears I’m still trying to outgrow
That’s why I’m here today, a stranger to you
To help calm those fears, to help you get through
When I stepped off of that plane there was no one for me
No one to talk to, it was a unpopular war you see
The questions were hard with each asker a judge
Why did you go? What was it like to kill? But I held no grudge
How could I explain what they could never understand
The nights of terror, bleeding, and dying in a foreign land
They will tell you it was for big oil or nothing at all
The memories of your brothers one by one you saw fall
Look up at that pole where that old flag flies tattered
You and I fought for that flag and that’s all that mattered
I am here to thank you and welcome you back
And to ask you to forgive those for the understanding they lack
You fought for your country, your family, and me
Because you and I know best of all, freedom isn’t free!