WHO WILL REMEMBER
Who
will remember the Great World War, the trenches, the wire and the gas?
Who
will remember those long ago places our brave young men were at?
Who
will remember places named the Marne, St Mohiel, Norroy,
Chateau-Thierry,
Belleau Wood, and the deadly Meuse-Argonne?
Vittorio-Veneto,
Colmar, Aisne and the Somme.
Who
will remember these? Will it be only those who were there?
Who
will remember World War II and all the battles fought?
Who
will remember the ships and planes and the glory that they brought?
Arizona, South Dakota, Nicholas,
Ommaney Bay; Lexington, Shannon, Sea Wolf and lucky Steamer Bay.
Memphis Belle, Skerty Bert, Barbie
and Punkie II; Lady Luck, Shoo Shoo Baby and Carolina Moon.
Who will remember these? Will it be
only those who were there?
Kilay Ridge, Aka Shima, Tarawa, Camp
O’Donnell; Funi-Funi, Bataan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Casablanca, Mareth Line, Bizerte,
Hill 609; D-Day, Cherbourg, the Bulge and the crossing of the Rhine.
Who will remember these? Will it be
only those who were there?
Who will remember the Korean War,
those cold frostbitten feet?
Who will remember the battles fought
in the valleys and on the peaks?
Pusan, Inchon. Naktong, The Bean
Patch; Kimpo Field, Chosin Reservoir and the Toktong Pass.
Yalu River, Punch Bowl, Hamhung, Hill
342; 38th Parallel, Seoul, Line of Demarcation.
Who will remember these? Will it be
only those who were there?
Who will remember the Vietnam War,
fought for so many years?
Young Men Died and women cried and at
home there were no cheers.
Pleiku, Parrot’s Beak, Da Nang, Phu
Bai; Ben Het, Fishhook, The Tet and Chu Lai.
Khe Sahn, Mekong, DMZ, Cam Ranh Bay;
Rock Pile, Tunnel Rats, Hamburger Hill and Hue.
Who will remember these? Will it be
only be those who were there?
Who will remember the Persian
Gulf War, fought on distant desert sand?
Who will remember what went on to
stop incursion once again?
Suez Canal, Kuwait City, Baghdad, the
sand of Iraq; Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Scud missile attacks.
Barsa, Euphrates River, Haifa and Tel
Aviv; Republican Guard, Dharan and Stealth bomber raids.
Who will remember these? Will it be
only those who were there?
Who will remember our undeclared
wars, the ones that kept evil at bay?
Who will remember our peace time
forces, ready to pay their way?
Who will remember Bay of Pigs, the
Cold War, Grenada, Somalia?
Who will remember Haita, Panama City
and now Bosnia?
Who will remember? Will it be only
those who were there?
Printed by permission
Lee T. Grimes 1996
All rights reserved
712 WEST MAIN STREET
CENTRALIA, WA. 98531
