Can't you people see,
What you're doing to your nation?
Killing the Earth,
Destroying God's own creation.
War is a stupid,
Cruel kind of thing.
We're poor little birds,
Resting on wounded wing.
No longer can we tell,
Right from wrong.
In pre-school didn't they teach us,
To all get along?
Nature intended us,
To live side by side.
By each other's rules,
We should all abide.
What does it matter?
Size, color, or race.
We should all get along,
Each other we should embrace.
Something someone told me,
That sticks out in my mind.
War is merciless,
A cruel nature of it's kind.
So many innocent people,
Are going to die.
So many fatherless children,
Will wonder "why?"
Why did daddy,
Have to go away?
Is he ever coming back?
Is what they'll say.
Their moms upset,
About to cry.
Will never really,
Be able to explain why.
Why the war happened,
Why people fought.
Because people are different,
That was the thought.
I'm only in the 8th grade,
And I know war's not right.
People shouldn't die,
They shouldn't have to fight.
Why isn't everyone,
Able to see.
The horrible things,
War does to people like you and me.
People should live life,
In love and not fear.
And never have to deal,
With losing ones they hold dear.
To things as stupid,
As we call war.
Let's all get along,
And not fight any more.
We should all be friends,
And live life happily.
My one major dream,
Is to live in harmony.
March 2, 2003
Dear Erin,
Read your wonderful compassionate poem. Certainly worth keeping. It seems that our girls are the ones that express themselves so well. Nancy has also written many poems for us. I don't know if you recollect that CD I sent to you, by that little 8 year old singer, Jourdan Irene. She sang a song along those lines. Our girls are so sweet.
There are two worlds today. I believe the Americans are the most compassionate of all the world's people. Yet, I think that, perhaps, the rest of the world is not so kind or compassionate because of the harshness of the life they've had to endure. We Americans most certainly have the best of all worlds. This is exemplified by the fact that people have risked their lives almost daily to reach these shores. It is also a fact that thousands of lives have been lost to preserve our way of life with all its' freedoms. People forget the lessons of history too soon.
We had a divided America when the Civil War took place. Two groups of people could not agree. It escalated into a war where the south wished to secede from the Union. It was a very costly war and even today there is some animosity between the North and the South. We didn't have much of a divided America when we were attacked by Japan. The boundaries were clear. When we became involved in the Vietnam war the reasons for going to war were not clear. The '60's were the worst years in our history as far as I was concerned. Those years diminished our Christian ideals and daily we drift further apart.
Evidence of that culture still lives today. Our poor boys were committed to serve and they did it as well as they could within the restrictions of political correctness. Today, you can see the huge memorial in Washington with the 55,000 names inscribed on it. Protests at home and political military instructions cost many American lives. Even more lives, in the hundreds of thousands were lost when the communists over ran Cambodia when we withdrew.
There is a class of people derogatorily called "bleeding hearts". [Sadly, among them are "true" bleeding hearts that would indeed give their lives for a cause. During WWII, there were many Conscientious Objectors. They would not take up arms for their country, BUT they "served" their country as Medics on the battlefields] Then there are those that would change our way of life through opposing government actions right or wrong.
Among them are cowards, professional activists and misguided people that are so naive that they cannot see what is happening. I'm not one that subscribes to, "My Country, Right or Wrong". I want my country to be in the right and have the courage to fight for its' ideals. Grandpa is an old bugger, can't even shovel a bit of snow, but I assure you, I'd gladly go again if I were called. Most war vets deny they are heroes; for most that is a fact. In battle you fight for your buddy first and then your country. Anyone who said he wasn't scared was not thinking at the moment.
Your poem is not lost on deaf ears. It's an ideal that all the good, decent folk in the world, believe in, hope for and, yes, even have to fight for at times.
Love,
Grandpa
(Please check my links page for the links to places where I got tubes to make the graphics on this page.)
