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The Soldier

He started as a little boy from any small hometown.
He loved to throw and hit a ball but never gained renown.
His parents taught him right from wrong and how to do his best,
So he grew up a normal way, not unlike all the rest.
Like any young adult he had his dreams and yes his fears,
And yet possessed a wisdom that was older than his years.
When war broke out his conscience pushed him on to join the fight,
And as he left for war he told his mom he’d be alright.
He learned the art of soldiering, of how to fight and shoot;
But at his core humanity remained beyond dispute.
And so this ordinary boy now finds himself one day
In an extraordinary battle in a country far away.
Thinking not about himself but of his fellow men,
He bravely fights an enemy till one wrong step and then
He dies there on that battlefield in savagery’s display
While we are left with memories and tears to wipe away.
This is a common tale about such fine, uncommon men
Who fight and die for freedom never asking where or when.
So now we must forgive ourselves for making them depart,
Knowing that forgiveness lives in every soldier’s heart.

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Richard Lackman is an orthopaedic cancer surgeon and poet.

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11 Responses

  1. Hari Hyde

    Thanks for this Veterans Day gift. A fallen soldier from my own small town drifted through my mind as I read between the lines. At poem’s end, I gathered many more thoughts to ponder: “Who fight and die for freedom never asking where or when.” Soldiers are youths, usually, and imagine the older generation can justify the decision to dispatch them into dangers. “Knowing that forgiveness lives in every soldier’s heart” abounds with allusions and affords a perfect finale.

    Reply
    • Dick Lackman

      Thanks for the comment. The death and dextruction of war is just devastating and heart breaking. I pray that humanity can evolve away from its dark side.

      Reply
  2. Paul A. Freeman

    That final couplet really sums up our collective responsibility for the trauma of war and the loss of youth and innocence.

    Thanks for the read, Richard.

    Reply
    • Dick Lackman

      thanks for your comment. I pray that those who have died for us and especially their families can forgive us.

      Reply
  3. Cheryl Corey

    Too many young people today are uneducated about major wars fought by this country. They have no comprehension about what those soldiers endured, soldiers who were barely out of their teens. Thousands often died in battles for a single island in the Pacific. They were, as your poem indicates, usually from small towns. They left as boys, and if they survived, they came home as men.

    Reply
  4. Dick Lackman

    Thank you for your comment. They do come home as men but then have to carry the burden of war’s ugliness forever. We need to do a better job of caring for the mental damage incurred by these brave men and women.

    Reply
  5. Rohini

    A sweet and sad poem. True of so many military personnel from so many parts of the world.

    Reply
  6. LTC Roy E. Peterson

    I personally identify with soldier boys from a small hometown, since I was one of them. I never felt the need for forgiveness for sending me to Vietnam, because I believed and still do in that for which we were fighting.

    Reply
    • Dick Lackman

      People like you have made America the great country it is. Thank you for your service.

      Reply
  7. Shamik Banerjee

    I wish the whole world could read this. Thank you for this incredible poem, Mr. Lackman.

    Reply

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