<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=531402" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Tom Zart's 52 Best Of The Rest America At War Poems</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF WORLD WAR III</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The White House<br>Washington<br>Tom Zart's Poems</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>March 16,2007 <br>Ms. Lillian Cauldwell<br>President and Chief Executive Officer<br>Passionate Internet Voices Radio<br>Ann Arbor Michigan</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Dear Lillian: <br>Number 41 passed on the CDs from Tom Zart. Thank you for thinking of me. I am thankful for your efforts to honor our brave military personnel and their families. America owes these courageous men and women a debt of gratitude, and I am honored to be the commander in chief of the greatest force for freedom in the history of the world. <br>Best Wishes.<br> <br>Sincerely, </div><div style="margin:10px 0">George W. Bush </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF WORLD WAR III</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Our sons and daughters serve in harm's way <br>To defend our way of life. <br>Some are students, some grandparents <br>Many a husband or wife. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">They face great odds without complaint <br>Gambling life and limb for little pay. <br>So far away from all they love <br>Fight our soldiers for whom we pray.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The plotters and planners of America's doom <br>Pledge to murder and maim all they can. <br>From early childhood they are taught <br>To kill is to become a man.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They exploit their young as weapons of choice <br>Teaching in heaven, virgins will await. <br>Destroying lives along with their own <br>To learn of their falsehoods too late.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The fearful cry we must submit <br>And find a way to soothe them. <br>Where defenders worry if we stand down <br>The future for America is grim.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Now's not the time to fight one another <br>Or kiss our enemy's cheek. <br>All through history it remains the same <br>The strong enslave the weak.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">May God continue to bless America <br>Refusing evil, the upper hand. <br>It's up to us to stay resolute <br>Defending the liberty of Man.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>ULTIMATE SACRIFICE</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Our men and women give the ultimate sacrifice<br>When they pledge to defend our flag.<br>In hot spots throughout our world<br>They defeat our enemies who brag.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Most say their prayers to their own private God<br>To protect and bring them safely home.<br>It's our job as patriots and Americans<br>To let them know we love them as our own.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Think of all of history's heroes of freedom<br>And what they gave up for &quot;Old Glory&quot;.<br>Nothing has changed for over two hundred years<br>As our soldiers continue the story.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Those rows of white crosses in manicured fields<br>Tell the story of ultimate sacrifice and love.<br>Always remember all we treasure and enjoy<br>Are because of our soldiers and God above.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>UNYIELDING HONOR</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Weakness invites moral plight, war and aggression<br>Encouraged by mistrust, misjudgment and delay.<br>All we love can be destroyed and transformed<br>By the powers of darkness maneuvering our way.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">When something wicked stares us in the face<br>To corrupt our morals, faith and resolve.<br>God gives us courage to defend what's right<br>No matter the sacrifice or danger involved.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Evil seeks to destroy the good in man<br>And silence the memory of God's law.<br>It's up to the faithful to stay unyielding<br>Defending the liberty and justice of all.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Our men and woman who serve in harm's way<br>Are the armor of what the free world depends on.<br>Without their sacrifice of body and soul<br>All that we stand for is gone.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>GOD LOVES HIS SOLDIERS</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Sometimes it's hard to protect what is right<br>Sometimes we're scorned as for others we fight.<br>Some of us are willing regardless of loss<br>To commit our soul to save the cross.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Evil prospers on greed and human hate<br>Always eager to destroy and defecate.<br>God's grace descends on the souls of man<br>Cleansing the impure wherever He can.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">As long as man has struggled on earth<br>Life has had its troubles from birth.<br>God's seed of goodness has delayed man's demise<br>Thank Heaven for his heroes the strong and the wise.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Lord adores his heroes of yesterday<br>Just how numerous, only He could say.<br>God loves his soldiers who line up to serve<br>By standing against evil His grace they deserve.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>AMERICA</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>America the abundant the place I was born <br>I'll cherish till the day I die.<br>Where the bones of past heroes lie buried in the ground <br>Who loved her the same as I.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Her mountains are so tall they reach for the sky<br>With prairies where the green grasses grow.<br>There's billions of trees where wild birds nest<br>With creatures that flourish below.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">That blue gold called water with which we are blessed<br>As raindrops or crystallized snow; <br>Changes to rivers and fresh water lakes<br>While the winds of our seasons blow.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">There's the haunt of a whistle from a lonely freight train <br>Racing on ribbons of steel<br>With the harvest of farms and from the factories <br>Balanced in a box on a wheel.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Some cities have buildings a hundred stories tall <br>Structures of concrete, glass and steel.<br>A statue in a harbor, a present from France <br>Describes how, inside, we feel.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">That flag on the moon with red and white stripes<br>Proves America's dreams come true.<br>A country of heroes who line up to protect<br>The past, the present and the few.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">We'll defeat terrorism as it should be fought<br>Never letting Satan's horde chase us to our door.<br>Safeguarding our borders and system of life<br>As our forefathers sacrificed before.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Never be afraid to be proud of America<br>And march with the brave, faithful and just.<br>Refusing to submit to the will of our enemies<br>Standing firm to preserve what we trust.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>INTO THE TEETH of THE DOG</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>All through history man was born to struggle<br>Surviving nature, disease, greed, and war.<br>Since his conception he has remained the same<br>Choosing to serve evil or good as before.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Our boys and girls face the teeth of the dog<br>In hot spots all over our earth.<br>They leave their families and all they love<br>To protect and preserve what liberty is worth.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The foes they face are the mad dogs of man<br>With a desire to kill, disfigure and enslave.<br>They sing and dance to the death of others<br>Teaching principles of hate till the grave.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Support our troops who battle the horde<br>While we live the good life back home.<br>When you see a soldier show them your smile<br>Say &quot;hello we love you and your not alone.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE MAD DOGS OF MAN</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Wherever dwell the mad dogs of man<br>There is corruption, plunder and hate.<br>In every city, town, or village<br>Those who promote distrust deserve their fate.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">All are born as an innocent child<br>Till mislead by others along the way.<br>God has always loved his children<br>Though it breaks His heart when they stray.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The mad dogs of man never repent<br>For they have no sense of shame or sorrow.<br>Worshiping dominance and the dark side of life<br>Abusing victims as if there were no tomorrow.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">God gives the will to sin no more<br>And to overcome evil unwilling to cease.<br>The mad dogs of man must be stopped<br>Who murder, rape and destroy world peace.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Samson, Solomon, and David<br>Were chosen by God to stand tall.<br>They faced great odds and the fear of death<br>Refusing to ignore their call.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The time has come for the good men of Earth<br>To band together to restrain the horde.<br>Standing firm against tyranny where it exists<br>Putting the mad dogs of man to the sword.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>WHERE WARS ARE WON OR LOST</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Wars are waged by older men<br>In battle rooms in countries apart.<br>Who call for greater firepower<br>And troops for the combat chart.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">While out among the shattered flesh<br>The dreams of all have turned gray.<br>So young and determined their faces were<br>Till on the battlefield they lay.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Unable to overcome their pride<br>The politicians cast their vote.<br>For this or that or something else<br>As the rage of war sounds its note.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Wherever wars are won or lost<br>The soldiers fall like toys.<br>Down through history it remains the same<br>Most who die are hardly more than boys.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Like monkeys in a revolving cage<br>Man squabbles for the peanuts of power.<br>When will we rise above our greed<br>And become as a beautiful flower? </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Death to death, dust to dust<br>The wrath of war is a horrible crime.<br>It's the beast within that still prevails<br>As it has through the torments of time.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>WAR IS THE GREATEST PLAGUE OF MAN</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>As war is fought it takes charge<br>And events spin out of control.<br>The madness of men can alter the soil <br>Which nourishes the roots of their soul.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Many things will forever change <br>Far more then wished to be.<br>As the wrath of war starts to destroy <br>Those things we fight to keep free.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">War is the greatest plague of man <br>Religion, state, and sanity.<br>Any scourge is more preferred <br>Than the one which disables humanity.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">When war breaks out, boundaries change <br>And all who die are a token<br>Of the rage that must run it's course <br>Before words of peace are spoken.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">War I hate, though not men, flags nor race <br>But war itself with its ugly face.<br>When we lose faith in the brave, which die <br>Then we're not fit to greet those who cry.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">What distinguishes war isn't death <br>But that man is slain by fellow man. <br>Crushed by cruelty and injustice <br>With his enemy's murderous hand.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">War tends to punish the punishers<br>So the losers won't suffer alone.<br>The essence of war is but violence<br>Till the survivors come marching home.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Sometimes it's hard to defend what's right<br>Sometimes we're forced to rise up and fight. <br>Sometimes we survive, while others must die <br>Sometimes never knowing the reason why.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The rush of combat is a natural buzz<br>Caused by fear, leaving nothing as it was.<br>Hunting one another like wild game <br>Without a shortage of those to blame.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Sometimes victory comes too slow or quick <br>Sometimes the cost on both sides is sick.<br>Sometimes God is asked to intervene<br>To help stop the savage from being so mean.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">War is a hell we visit before death <br>Fueled by the whisper of the devil's breath. <br>There must be a reason man destroys man<br>But why it is so, I can't understand.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SEPTEMBER 11th</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>After suffering the wrath of a sneak attack <br>America now mourns to her very core. <br>Though soon her enemies shall all but flee <br>From the sound of America waging full war.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Let there be no doubt, no doubt at all <br>That the devil has decided to give us a call.<br>We shall defeat hell's soldiers and cast them out <br>And if we die; that's what freedom is about.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">We shall seek them out wherever they may hide <br>Street by street, house-by-house, cave by cave. <br>They will be eradicated from the face of the earth <br>By the righteous, the loyal and the brave.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SATAN'S HORDE SHALL BE REMOVED</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Overrun with war and uncontrolled leaders<br>Our world becomes more dangerous each day.<br>Dishonest politicians, criminals and the media<br>Survive by their falsehoods at play.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Bible believers preach, that the end is near<br>Our world as a whole is beyond reform.<br>God will eradicate all which is wicked<br>By His fire of eruption and storm.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">To evil's victory, I will never concede<br>May its supporters anguish in hell.<br>By the grace of God and the power of faith<br>The goodness of man will prevail.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">What we accomplish is heaven's measure<br>As patriots respond to the threats of man.<br>Protect and defend what we love till death<br>As the soldiers of Satan arise from the sand.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SO DEAR TO MY HEART </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>So dear to my heart are my loved ones at home <br>As I toss and I turn in my bunk all alone. <br>Everyday I see death, hate, and corruption <br>Combat is God's proof of man's malfunction </div><div style="margin:10px 0">For family, comrades, and myself I pray <br>To my love with this poem I wish to convey. <br>I knew I loved you though never how much <br>Till by war, I'm forced beyond your touch. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Where violence thrives, there's the stench of death <br>With the taste of fear on every breath. <br>Who shall prevail, who shall die <br>As the sadistic kill beneath God's sky. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Baghdad has become man's highway to hell <br>Where the hearts of darkness are alive and well. <br>I count each day till it's time to come home <br>And be with my love and never alone. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Love You <br>Your Marine </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>FREEDOM</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>In their new uniforms <br>The young march off <br>Not knowing who shall return. <br>With a proud devotion <br>They brandish their flag <br>Leaving loved ones to wonder and yearn. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">May we all be buried <br>By all of our children <br>Is an ancient tribal prayer. <br>They're so easy to lose <br>But so hard to forget <br>Such a burden for a parent to bear. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Oh, the taste of victory <br>Shall soon be forgotten <br>But, never that which was lost. <br>For those rows of white headstones <br>In peaceful green fields <br>Make it easy to tally the cost. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">America has survived all attempts to destroy <br>Knowing the cruelty of war <br>And, we who remain <br>Must help keep her free <br>For those who can march no more! </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>OUR FLAG </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Our flag is fabric wove of thread <br>Carried by heroes live and dead. <br>She stands for justice and courage too <br>With her colors; red, white and blue.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For all who serve her, there'll be cheers<br>For any who die, there'll be tears<br>For all who love her, honor will prevail <br>Any who harm her, shall suffer and fail.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">How many moms have cried before <br>As they sent their children to war. <br>How many dads have not returned <br>Because our freedom must be earned.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Wars were waged where brave men died <br>As patriots fought side by side. <br>Our flag is still the pearl of Earth <br>Because of those who prove her worth. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>LOVE OF COUNTRY </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>I dedicate this poem from inside my tent <br>As the desert winds keep it's silhouette bent. <br>My love of country is at full boil now <br>I'd like to describe it but it's hard to know how.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Tomorrow I'll hunt those who enjoy our death <br>Cursed by their hatred and foulness of breath. <br>I don't care if it's another God they serve <br>For their crime's retribution is what they deserve. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Their horde survives by a different set of rules, <br>Though soon they'll learn the fate of murderous fools. <br>Proudly I serve my homeland and president <br>Who I've sworn to defend one hundred percent.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">While haunted by visions of what I must do <br>I fight for justice, and the red, white, and blue. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>VETERAN'S DAY </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The cost of freedom is sometimes high <br>Extremely more when our loved one's die. <br>Men and women pledged to fight and serve <br>And it's our support that they deserve.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Mankind itself is the one to blame<br>That all through history, the story's the same. <br>Peace, like love, can be hard to acquire <br>Subject always to enemy fire. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Some how the righteous tend to prevail <br>Over the miss-guided, prone to fail. <br>No wonder we fear the tongues that lie <br>As mankind squabbles beneath God's sky. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The danger our solders face is real <br>So lets let them know just how we feel. <br>Put forth your flag and show them your heart <br>As those we love from us depart. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE BATTLE FOR BAGHDAD </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Determined though scared, I walk my beat<br>On the deadly streets of Baghdad.<br>Searching for any who plot our harm<br>Or by our death are joyous and glad.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Standing in shadows caused by the moon<br>I'm reminded of my nights back home.<br>I wonder if the woman I love<br>Is growing tired of sleeping alone? </div><div style="margin:10px 0">I feel remorse for all who live here<br>For this place is a madman's hell.<br>And those who wish to keep it that way<br>Must be killed or locked away in jail.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">My greatest fear is not my death<br>But that I'll end up in a wheelchair.<br>Disabled for the rest of my life, <br>Depending on others for my care.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">My wife, she prays for my safe return<br>As night and day more GI's are killed.<br>She knows quite well, whatever it takes<br>The oath I've given will be fulfilled.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SADDAM</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The king of Baghdad has fallen<br>Never to dictate again.<br>Man shall sentence him for this crimes<br>And heaven shun him for his sin.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For his tyranny, he was famous<br>In every capital on earth.<br>Till apprehended in his spider hole<br>Completely stripped of his worth.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He is guilty of rape and genocide<br>While he ruled without remorse.<br>His power and prestige were toppled<br>Once George Bush set his course.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Though it may seem that the wicked triumph<br>And have conquered by their brutality of hand, <br>Through the power of faith they are defeated<br>By the seed of goodness in man.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>FORMIDABLE FOE</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>America is the birthday cake of Earth<br>As the ants march from every direction.<br>Thank God for all who have sworn to defend her<br>Serving with love, honor, pride, and affection.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Since the first day George Washington marched off to war<br>There have been those who have wished our demise.<br>Their hatred, fueled by jealousy and greed<br>Was defeated by our brave and the wise.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Once again, we must face a formidable foe<br>Who have pledged by their God to destroy us all<br>Misusing their faith as an excuse to kill<br>As for a worldwide jihad, their leaders call.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Some say we should try to appease them <br>For if we resist, they'll hate us even more. <br>But the David's among us shall cast our stones <br>Defeating them, as it was done before. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SHOULD TOMORROW START WITHOUT ME </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Should tomorrow start without me <br>Remember I love you. <br>Looking down from up above <br>Seeing everything you do. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">If I become a casualty <br>I pray you will love again <br>Whom ever makes you happy <br>I'll consider my friend. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Should tomorrow start without me <br>Remind our boys, God loves all who care. <br>And when life seems too harsh and cruel <br>With 'Him' they must share their prayer. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">I have proven I'm not a coward <br>Who breaks and runs to survive. <br>Always fearing death will kiss me <br>As the streets of Baghdad I drive. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Should tomorrow start without me <br>Be proud I choose to serve. <br>Our faith and our patriotism <br>Earn the freedom we deserve.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">I miss home more than ever <br>It breaks my heart to stay away <br>I can't help but want to hold you <br>And whisper what I say.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>AMERICAN SOLDIER </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>It's not a priest that gives us our freedom of religion<br>And it's not a reporter that gives us our freedom of voice.<br>It's not any judge, lawyer, politician, or teacher<br>But the blood of a soldier that has sacrificed by choice.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Our soldiers line up to be remembered <br>As the best of the best at their job. <br>They wish to be needed and depended on <br>To save all we love from the mob. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">They risk their life and limb for liberty <br>Standing firm against evil unwilling to break. <br>To be part of something greater than themselves <br>They are willing to sacrifice whatever it will take.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THANK HEAVEN FOR HEROES </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Thank Heaven for the heroes of life <br>Who lead us to overcome those who are not. <br>The wise are grateful for all God's blessings <br>Where fools never realize what they've got. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">America is the grain train of Earth <br>Whose people exercise rule by their vote. <br>All have a chance to partake and prosper <br>As they arrive by foot, plane or boat. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Our freedom relies on the law of the land <br>Our future depends on our grit. <br>Our past has known both good and bad <br>And our mistakes we are willing to admit.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The grim of heart hate America <br>And choose to put her wonders to shame <br>The devotion of most who love and live here <br>Rise up to defeat the soldiers of blame.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE LONELINESS OF WAR </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>I know I'm still here so far, far away <br>As I fight for what I believe is right. <br>I wonder about you and your mom <br>Every moment of every day and night. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The loneliness of war can drive you insane <br>If you don't get letters of concern from home. <br>Left, right, behind and ahead, <br>Death awaits leaving love ones alone. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">We pray to God that we will be saved <br>To return home or live the here after. <br>Bloody, dirt-covered men, we see everyday <br>As we yearn for those times of laughter. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The far off stare of a fallen comrade <br>As you stay by his side till his end. <br>No mother ever carried her infant child <br>More carefully, than we do a friend. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Many have their own personal diaries <br>To help keep their faculties together. <br>Watching hot steel crash into human flesh <br>Always makes home seem far away and better.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">I've become an expert at dodging, weaving and diving <br>So try not to worry too much about me. <br>Just help your mom and stand up from the ground <br>And while I'm gone be all you can be. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SACRIFICE TRANSFORMATION AND UNRESTRICTED WARFARE</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The Japanese hadn't lost a war since 1598 <br>Each man carried 400 rounds of ammunition <br>(twice as many as an American infantryman) <br>With five days rations and fearless determination.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The men in the badly wrapped brown uniforms <br>Since their early childhood had been taught <br>That to die for the emperor and one's country <br>Was the greatest of all glories to be sought. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Moreover, the hardware backing them was awesome <br>As sharpshooters they were accurate up to a thousand yards and more. <br>Their ships were faster, their guns bigger, Their torpedoes better <br>And their planes matchless in quality, aerobatics and score.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Only by sacrifice, transformation, and unrestricted warfare <br>Was America able to overcome and prevail. <br>Again America must stand firm to survive <br>As we face a new monster from Hell. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SOLDIER IN THE RAIN </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>I'm just a soldier who stands in the rain <br>My memories of home are what keep me sane. <br>Back home is a land of milk and honey <br>Ruled by lust and love of money. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">But, what can I say, when I serve her true <br>For I volunteered to see this war through. <br>Now, that I'm here, it's hard to believe<br>We're just the victims of those who deceive. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">As darkness falls on the rice fields of Nam <br>Scared men with rifles walk the shadows of the calm. <br>It's thousands of miles to the steps of my church <br>With its stained glass, steeples and lost souls who search.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Off in the distance I see an arc light <br>Bombs being dropped on children at night. <br>I've seen that evil they call the yellow rain <br>And how life withers when it's sprayed by a plane. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">All of my buddies have been taken away <br>No more touch football will they ever play. <br>Zipped in their body bags for the long trip home <br>Are some of the bravest, I've ever known. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">War is a hell, devised by man <br>There's death in the sea, the sky and the land. <br>Lord, I can't help but wish I were home <br>Back with my love, whom I hope is alone? </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>DADS AT WAR </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Where would I be without you dad <br>My hero of night and day <br>I'm so glad you love my mother <br>And think of us when you pray </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The last time we went to church <br>You reached for me with your hand. <br>I looked at you, then made a wish <br>That I might be just half the man.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">I love my father of this earth <br>And I love my father of heaven. <br>It's a lot for me to love, you know <br>For I'm only eleven. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Mom and I sure miss you <br>Since you left to defend our flag. <br>When others ask, where is your dad <br>I can't help but boast and brag. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>BULLETS AND BARBWIRE </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>We awoke to the crack of rifle fire <br>With mortar rounds hitting the ground near by. <br>The flying shrapnel was absorbed by sand bags <br>Which saved lots of us who wished not to die. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The hot spent shell casings fell to the ground <br>As the VC charged our fortified hill. <br>We killed so many the stench made us sick <br>While we fought to live and not for a thrill. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Barbwire, bullets and clay-mores took their toll <br>As red and green tracers lit up the sky. <br>Before long I was the last GI left<br>When napalm caused my enemy to fry. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Fleeing the sound of our choppers gunfire <br>The enemy retreated to the caves and trees. <br>Then I cried, 'thank you ' to Heaven above <br>As I checked out my buddies on my knees. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Somehow I managed to survive the day <br>Though many I've served with names I have read <br>Carved in the shinny black stone of The Wall <br>Are my comrades of war, among the dead. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>KOREA 1950 </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>UN soldiers fought and were forced to retreat <br>Behind sandbags protected by barbwire hoops. <br>Many GI's died as they held off attacks <br>By 810,000 Communist troops.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Our guys used phosphorus, flame-throwers and napalm <br>For without these weapons they could not survive. <br>The Communist charges led by buglers <br>Till the UN could start it's offensive drive. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">On the battlefield of death Chosin Reservoir<br>Many froze with their hands still stuck to their guns. <br>While others hobbled with their boots wrapped in rags <br>City boys, farmers, students, fathers and sons. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">With a million and a half dead or wounded <br>Both sides singed a truce before generals involved. <br>July 27th,1953 <br>And though thousands were orphaned, nothing was solved. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>WAR</div><div style="margin:10px 0">As war is fought it takes charge <br>And events spin out of control. <br>The madness of men can alter the soil <br>Which nourishes the roots of their soul. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Many things will forever change <br>Far more then wished to be. <br>As the wrath of war starts to destroy <br>Those things we fight to keep free.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">War is the greatest plague of man<br>Religion, state, and sanity. <br>Any scourge is more preferred <br>Than the one which disables humanity. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">When war breaks out, boundaries change <br>And all who die are a token <br>Of the rage that must run it's course <br>Before words of peace are spoken. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>TROOP SHIP </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Our ship had sailed before the dawn <br>Surrounded by the thickest of fog <br>Still ignorant of our destination <br>Or what was written in the captain's log.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">It didn't take long for me to see <br>Our cruise was not for fun <br>An experience of a lifetime <br>With nowhere for us to run. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Twenty knots per hour we cruised <br>As the white caps passed us by <br>Ten thousand young Americans <br>Off to Europe to die. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">A sailor told us not to worry <br>Someday we'd get our mail. <br>Uncle Sam would make sure <br>No matter how far we sail. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thirty feet deep I tried to sleep <br>Beneath our ship's waterline <br>Just the place for claustrophobia <br>To enter into my mind. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">My favorite vest was my May West <br>Which I wore all the time <br>Just in case of German U-boats <br>Or an underwater mine. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thirty-three days we were at sea <br>We crossed the equator twice. <br>Many years have passed since then <br>Those years of sacrifice. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>BRAVERY </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Many brave souls lived before now <br>Unwept and unknown by their face. <br>Lost somewhere in the distant night <br>Till a poet chronicles their grace. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">True bravery is shown by performing <br>Without witness, what one might be <br>Capable of before the world <br>Without any or all to see.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">How great the brave who rest in peace <br>All blessings from heaven to earth. <br>They gave our country but their best <br>Those destined to be brave from birth.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>PEARL HARBOR </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Sunday, December the seventh <br>In the year of 1941, <br>While most of Hawaii still slept <br>Came the planes of the Rising Sun.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Waves of bombers and fighters flew <br>From the decks of the Japanese ships. <br>While our planes were still on the ground <br>'Banzai' was spoken from their lips. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The winds of war had been blowing <br>Across the oceans of our earth<br>Though not till Pearl had been bombed <br>Did we realize what freedom's worth. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Wars are fought and won on two fronts <br>At home and on the battle line. <br>Both are equally important <br>When war consumes our heart and mind. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The attack brought us World War II <br>With death, pain and separation. <br>All who had served were well aware <br>Of their sacrifice for nation. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>CONFLICT </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The harder the conflict we sometimes face <br>The far more glorious is the victory. <br>Tyranny like hell is tough to defeat <br>When it raises its head throughout history. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">War never leaves a country as it was <br>When neutrality is a word disregarded. <br>As the murderous hands of man himself <br>Are to blame for all who have departed. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>D-DAY THE WALL </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Over two hundred rangers scaled 'The Wall' <br>A stone cliff over one hundred feet tall. <br>Some of them made it all the way to the top <br>While others fell and perished from their drop.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Those who climbed over, had answered God's call <br>For men to stop evil once and for all. <br>They fought the Germans and destroyed their guns <br>To save the lives of our fathers and sons. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">So many years have passed since then <br>When our world's future was saved by brave men. <br>We cannot forget the hell they went through <br>Before the skies, again turned blue. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>D-DAY </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>D-Day raised the curtain on the conflict <br>That fore shadowed the end of Hitler's dream. <br>The largest joint combat landing ever <br>Though the blood from both sides flowed like a stream.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">When their boats hit the sand, their ramps went down <br>And all within paid a visit to hell. <br>They jumped out to do good for their country <br>And to kill the enemy without fail.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They fought the Germans, tides, winds and the waves <br>In conditions not easily foreseen. <br>By night the battle was in our favor <br>With bravery, valor, death, and men who scream.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The corpses littered the beach for five miles <br>Though heroism had carried the day.<br>With literally thousands dead or wounded <br>Those who were left were determined to stay.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They faced great odds and chose not to protest <br>And won the war that put evil to shame. <br>Most came home, married and raised their babies <br>But those who could not we recall with pain. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>MIDWAY </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>It was June the 4th 1942 <br>As I was floating in the ocean alone <br>The ship I had sailed on, sank to the bottom <br>And I thought I would never again, see home. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Japanese fleet had steamed in from the east <br>With the intentions of capturing Midway. <br>Though they were stopped by American war ships <br>Whose guns, bombs and torpedoes planes saved the day. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">All night long, I watched the fireworks of war <br>And on the second day we turned up the heat. <br>As big bombers from Hawaii dropped their loads <br>On Japanese ships who soon chose to retreat. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">An imperial pilot came floating close by <br>Who had been chewed on by the beasts of the sea. <br>I couldn't help but feel passion for this is man <br>Who had answered his call just like me. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">When it was over, I was plucked from the deep <br>By men in a lifeboat just after the dawn. <br>For two days I had watched the battle for, Midway <br>Now it's quiet and the enemy has gone. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SURVIVAL </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>I drifted all night and was loosing my hope <br>Before by the moon's light I saw dry land. <br>I floated over and through its reefs to the beach <br>Where I quickly smoothed out my tracks in the sand. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">All I had was my dagger and a canteen <br>And it was May 4th of 43. <br>Just me alone on an enemy island <br>Wasn't a safe place for a sailor to be.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">I felt I could kill in less than a heartbeat <br>If that's what it took for me to survive. <br>I'd already said thanks so many times<br>For' God' was the reason I was alive. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Off in the dark, I herd two men's voices <br>Laughing and talking in a language not mine. <br>Inch by inch I crept to their campsite <br>Where on what they were eating, I would soon dine.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">I stabbed them both and took their fish, rice and wine <br>Then ran my way back to the raft by the beach. <br>Soon I was floating in the ocean again <br>And far enough out where bullets couldn't reach.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The next day I was picked up by a seaplane <br>Whose crew spotted my sail from the air. <br>Once inside and safe, I cried like a child <br>For the dead whom would forever be there. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">It was hard to believe heaven let me live <br>A farm boy from Kansas, in high school last year. <br>My girlfriend is blond and she hates it I 'm gone <br>Though I'm a veteran of battle, death, and fear. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>OKINAWA </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Okinawa was to be our last stop <br>Before we invaded Japan. <br>The largest landing of the Pacific war <br>As our soldiers ran across the sand. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">At first our marines were scarcely opposed <br>But on the fifth day hell they found. <br>A solid wall of human resistance <br>Firing their weapons from caves in the ground. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Air power and big guns had little affect <br>On their cliff forts carved deep in the limestone. <br>It took man against man to root them out <br>As flying bullets pierced flesh and bone.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Kamikaze pilots crashed their planes <br>Knocking out transports and war ships. <br>As the Imperial air force struck our fleet <br>Cries of fear and hate spewed from lips.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">One hundred, ten thousand Japanese <br>By the end of the battle were killed. <br>Over twelve thousand Americans died, <br>Before, just our flag flew over the field.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>After the fall of France in 1940<br>The Germans soon began their own blockade <br>With most their efforts in the Atlantic<br>Hoping to cut Britain's flow of war trade. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">With fast surface raiders like the Bismarck <br>Merchant ships caught at sea, had little chance. <br>The German's small navy sank ship after ship <br>Till the British Navy destroyed war's romance. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Shipping losses from German U-boats increased <br>And the battle of the Atlantic seemed lost. <br>But soon America would enter the war <br>To defeat freedom's enemies at all cost. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Multitudes would die and their families cry <br>Before World War II would be fought to its end. <br>What a waste of mankind, which had lost its mind <br>Though now, our enemy is our friend. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>PARTING </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The truest words, which portray my love <br>I speak to you from within my heart. <br>May we always recall how we feel<br>Though through conflict we're forced to part. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">No one can say how long they will last <br>For life is not everlasting. <br>Yet most hope to be blessed by love <br>By he who does our casting. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">As the fear of battle bites my flesh <br>My thoughts of home help keep me sane. <br>There's no guarantee that I'll survive <br>But either way, I'll serve without shame. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Should the cold hands of death reach for me <br>I pray my soul will awake from sleep. <br>To the voice of God assuring me <br>That my spirit, He has chosen to keep. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">So try to remember while I'm gone <br>That the person I need most is you. <br>I'll fight like hell to stay alive <br>To return home to the love I knew.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>P.O.W. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>When you become a P.O.W. <br>You find you've lost your liberty and more <br>The guy with the gun tells you what to do <br>As you yearn for freedoms you had before.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Your will to survive helps keep you alive<br>Though sometimes you wish you were dead.<br>Tortures far beyond any normal mind<br>And there's no safety, even in your bed.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Bullets, barbwire, searchlights and sharp teeth <br>Keep you in a place you don't wish to be. <br>The food is quite awful and sometimes it moves <br>And you've no choice of what you hear or see.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The lucky are released and return home <br>Though in their dreams their fate is unsure. <br>War may be hell, but confinement is worse <br>Cause afterward you're never as you were.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>GENERAL QUARTERS </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>General quarters, general quarters <br>All hands man your battle station! <br>Sunday morning, December the 7th <br>As war confronted our nation. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">We soon found out it wasn't a drill <br>But instead it was war for real. <br>As you watch the death of friends and shipmates <br>It's more anger than fear you feel. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Japanese warplanes came flying in low <br>As I took aim with my gun sight. <br>From the deck of a ship anchored at Pearl <br>Damaged, though crew still eager to fight. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">I saw the face of a pilot, who crashed<br>Surrounded by black smoke and fire. <br>Some of my bullets must have found their mark. <br>For his death was but my desire! </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Two thousand, three hundred and twenty-three killed <br>In a battle less than two hours. <br>With the heart of our Pacific fleet gone <br>Japan had flexed their naval powers. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The bombing and strafing of ships and troops <br>Caused our congress to declare full war. <br>Where many a man laid down his life <br>Fighting for flag, country and more. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>KENNEDY = THE WAR YEARS <br>PT-109 </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>After the attack on Pearl Harbor <br>He applied for sea duty in the war. <br>Where Lieutenant John F. Kennedy <br>Became known for his bravery and more. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">In the dark hours before dawn <br>On August 2, of 43. <br>Kennedy commanded a torpedo boat <br>Through the blackness of night at sea. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">PT 109, was on Solomon's patrol <br>With a 12-man crew in a plywood craft. <br>A Japanese destroyer plowed through the night <br>Ramming and cutting Kennedy's boat in half. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Two of the crew just disappeared <br>A third was badly burned. <br>Kennedy himself was thrown to the deck <br>Where in pain his leadership he earned.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Some of his men had never learned to swim <br>As he gathered them on the bobbing bow. <br>The hours passed tell it seemed it would sink <br>So they made for an island and here's how. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">He ordered those who could to swim <br>The others were to hang on to a beam. <br>Kennedy grabbed the injured sailor <br>And off they tread through the ocean stream.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">With his teeth clenched on the burnt man's vest straps <br>Skipper Kennedy swam 3 miles. <br>5 hours later they all made it <br>Despite their hardships, sharks, and trials. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The next problem was how to summon up help <br>Without arousing the enemy all around. <br>After several attempts swimming to other islands <br>Eventually two natives in a canoe were found.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Kennedy scratch a note on a coconut <br>To be delivered to a base 38 miles away. <br>The message made it and they were saved <br>And their courage still lives today.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>FLY-BOYS </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>World War-I gave us the flyboys <br>Who flew by the seat of their pants. <br>Many would never return from war <br>While others survived by chance. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Their planes were mostly canvas and wood <br>Gasoline, bullets, bombs and poison gas. <br>Every pilot carried his own pistol <br>Wearing leathers, scarf and goggles of glass. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Aviators had no Parachutes <br>To escape their burning plane. <br>Many were forced to jump to their death <br>Or self inflect a bullet to the brain. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Blimps where known as battleships of the sky <br>The roar of their engines gave reason for fear. <br>They flew so high they were hard to shoot down <br>Hiding above clouds till their targets drew near.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Tracer bullets for the first time were used <br>In the guns of airplanes to set blimps afire. <br>The skies became man's highway of death <br>With duty and honor their driving desire. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">How many flyboys have we lost since then <br>Those days of the Great War and more? <br>Where do we get such brave souls of chance <br>Who rise from the rest in the battles of war? </div><div style="margin:10px 0"></div><div style="margin:10px 0">THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>In 1860 life was good <br>Till its simple-ness ceased one day. <br>The North wished to save the Union <br>While the South chose to break away.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">America was torn apart <br>As six hundred thousand died. <br>Throughout four years of total war <br>Women without husbands cried. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The sad fact of the Civil War <br>Is what was left at its end. <br>Too many times, men's evil acts <br>Destroyed both foe and friend. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The problem was, once it began <br>There was no peace or compromise. <br>Total victory must be proclaimed <br>Before rage would leave men's eyes.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Destroy all that helps the enemy <br>Was the cry of either side. <br>Anything to obtain victory <br>As death on horseback did ride. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Black men dressed in old uniforms <br>Became the Union's reserve. <br>They fought and died for their freedom <br>And their rights they earned and deserve. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Lifestyles would forever change <br>For all who survived the war. <br>It had ended as it began <br>With sadness, misery and more. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Both sides prayed to the same God <br>And spoke words from the Bible. <br>The prayers of both were not answered <br>For all involved were liable. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>BLACK POWDER BRIDGE </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>A courier rider hands his papers to me <br>They are instructions from Robert E. Lee. <br>I am advised now is the time <br>To stop the troop movement on the Rock Island line. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">I muster my men and they load up the boats <br>We powder our pistols and darken our coats. <br>Traveling the currents, the sun slips from sight <br>As brave men with a purpose have gathered to fight. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">We capture a bridge before the moonrise <br>The Yankees who are here shall soon feed the flies. <br>The evil of war feeds on my brain <br>As I light the fuse to destroy a train. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Above us a trestle of timber and tar <br>As we pull our oars for a willowed sandbar. <br>From the banks of the river; we watch it approach <br>There's shadows of soldiers, in the windows of a coach.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">With a burst of bright yellow and a roar in my ear <br>I hear them scream as they 're falling in fear. <br>The river is boiling in steam, steel and stems <br>Back home their families shall soon sing funeral hymns. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The one lone survivor was a red stallion stud <br>I lassoed his neck, and freed him from the mud. <br>As I ride in his saddle beneath the stars that shine <br>I pray for forgiveness and some peace of mind. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">War is a lesson we re eager to learn <br>When man has that fever to murder and burn. <br>Lord, please forgive me for what I have done <br>For all those I've silenced were some mother's son.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE FEVER OF FEAR </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Cannons are bursting hot metal from the ground. <br>Soldiers are looting and burning our town. <br>The fever of fear rushes through my veins <br>As too many Bluecoats jump from troop trains. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Smoke from hot barrels is swirling around <br>As four thousand muskets volley their sound. <br>All of my comrades have stopped a lead ball <br>Most cry out, then stumble and fall. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Even the young lad who carried our flag <br>Now he lies dead as he clings to that rag. <br>Wagons with the wounded trail blood on the ground <br>Death and destruction are easily found. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Generals are crying 'cause they can't stand defeat <br>But it's always the soldier who dies on his feet. <br>Horse hooves are pounding on a bridge made of boards <br>As the sunlight reflects from the blades of their swords. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Quickly I hide out in the roots of a tree <br>Where the dirt has eroded and there's just room for me. <br>After dark I sneak out with the cover of fog <br>Then float down the river, as I cling to a log.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Songs of their victory, ring out through the night <br>While from the cold, muddy water, I see their firelight. <br>It makes me remember my old country church <br>Where the preacher spoke God's word from his holy perch.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">That the seed of all conflict began in a cave <br>When man, like the wild wolf had to prove he was brave. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THUNDER IN THE GROUND </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Cannons are bellowing from a ridge far away <br>The battle lines are forming and there's little time to pray. <br>Musket balls are pelting like hailstones from the sky <br>I'm so full of fear cause I don 't want to die. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">From beyond yonder hill comes a terrifying sound <br>It's the music of the buglers and there's thunder in the ground. <br>The fast-riding troopers have all drawn out their swords. <br>They 're shouting and screaming as they charge up the gorge. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">It's hard to believe how many make it through <br>As they're hacking and shooting at the boys dressed in blue. <br>Then come the soldier men who run upon their feet <br>Every time I dropp one, my heart skips a beat. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">There's a storm on the ground made of death, dust and smoke <br>My throat is so dry, I can 't help but choke. <br>The fury of the battle is bound to settle down <br>When most of the fighters lie dead on the ground.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">After dark, the stretcher-bearers are afraid to search around <br>The wild hogs eat the wounded and I can 't stand the sound. <br>Come dawn, we dig ditches for all the brave, lifeless men <br>Then quote words from our Bible praying heaven lets them in. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>SLAVERY </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>When you chain the neck of a slave <br>The other end fastens to you. <br>Your heart and soul become corrupt <br>And all which is evil you'll do. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">No government shall exist for long <br>Who's people are not really free. <br>Though around the world there are those <br>Who stay blind to how life should be.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Any who must enslave others <br>Will dwell in their own living hell <br>After death, they'll join their master <br>In that place from heaven he fell. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">But till then we'll fight and resist <br>Making them put their chains away. <br>And those of us who may die first <br>From heaven shall watch and pray </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>In the course of becoming officers <br>The young men of West Point bonded like brothers. <br>Till roomers of Civil War transformed friend to foe <br>As many cadets chose to serve others. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Fifty-five of sixty major battles fought <br>Were lead by graduates of the long gray line. <br>Yankees and Rebels ravaged one another<br>For to kill and plunder were virtues of the time. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Over six hundred thousand soldiers were consumed <br>Not counting multitudes of population. <br>Cities, farms and the countryside were laid to waste <br>Before our Union was restored to a nation. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE LITTLEST SOLDIER </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Nine year old Johnny Clem who stood just four feet tall <br>Ran away from Ohio to answer his country's call. <br>He joined up with the Union and became a drummer boy <br>Soon to prove the gun he wore was far more than a toy. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Armed with a sawed-off musket, cut down to just fit him <br>He shot a Rebel horseman who tried to do him in. <br>Awarded his sergeant's stripes and the silver medal <br>His comrades offered him hot coffee from their kettle. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The newspapers of the North, gladly published his story <br>Telling of the nine year old who earned his country's glory. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE BATTLE </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The moon is sky high <br>And perfectly round <br>As it highlights the beauty <br>Of disputed ground. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Life is a journey <br>Where the passage is free. <br>After, there's judgment <br>By the living and Thee. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Tomorrow's carnage <br>We'll survive if we can. <br>Death and dismemberment <br>By the hand of man.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Some will stumble <br>With absence of breath. <br>While others charge <br>Into the face of death. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">We'll race toward the battle <br>And pray for the best <br>Hoping somehow <br>We pass God's test. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>BUGLES </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Their red and blue, ragtag flag stood out <br>Against their dust covered uniforms of gray. <br>Savagely we fought to kill our enemy <br>As the battle raged on in the heat of the day </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Volley after volley we put forth our blaze <br>With thousands of led balls snapping flesh and bone. <br>Blistering sweat rolled down every face<br>As the tunes of war by bugles were blown. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">There was a clanking sound of ramrods in barrels <br>As each new lead ball was loaded and fired. <br>Some shot aimlessly into the smoke <br>While others took aim at the worn and tired.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Bullets were popping like the fourth of July <br>Yet our enemy kept surging ahead. <br>All at once they broke and ran off in groups <br>Scattering as for the forest they fled. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">From behind the protection of a stacked-stone wall <br>The victorious cheered or just sat starring <br>At all the bodies of friend and foe <br>While for the wounded the surgeons were caring.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Soon the war was over and I survived <br>Despite it's brutality on trampled ground. <br>From boy to man I was transformed <br>Though, still in the night I hear its sound.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>LEAF ON THE WATER</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>America's East Coast was settled by the Brits <br>As the Indians rule began to recede. <br>After many a battle, they lost their land <br>Giving into the white man's power and greed. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">In years to come like a leaf on the water <br>The Indians were swept away by the white man. <br>As trappers and pioneers pushing westward<br>Brought death and disease to the land. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">With the white settlements came the fur traders <br>Followed by soldiers, forts, whiskey and form tools. <br>None of which helped the Indians to survive <br>Who chose to wage war, and break the white man's rules. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Many treaties were made, just to be broken <br>By those eager for land, timber, furs and gold. <br>Prospectors arrived to plunder the land <br>And to be farmers, the Indians were told. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The combat raged on, to the western prairie<br>Over mountains and down through the desert sand. <br>Indians proved to be formidable foe <br>As both sides fought from afar and hand-to-hand. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Lieutenant Colonel Custer, led his cavalry <br>In search of fame and tribal disgrace. <br>But instead he and his men were butchered <br>By hostile Indians with paint on their face. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Around the campfires of Rosebud and Pine Ridge <br>Singing warriors danced till Sitting Bull's death. <br>Most were forced to surrender at Wounded Knee <br>Where many sad Indian would draw their last breath. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">With their fighting spirit completely broken <br>And their ancient tribal ways forever gone. <br>Proud Indians were moved to reservations <br>Where their once great history in song lives on. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE HINGE OF HISTORY </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The hinge of history swings in all directions <br>As the happenings of the past are written down. <br>Out of all that has occurred since man's beginnings <br>Less has been recorded than waits to be found. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Babylonians kept chronicles of history <br>Hebrews wrote the past as a dramatic story. <br>Greeks had no faith in the future at all <br>Believing mans repeated errors doom his glory.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Christians added a new dimension to history <br>Looking forward to Christ's return to earth. <br>An on going drama involving man and God <br>Believing all are created of equal worth. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Some have asked why must we study history <br>It just encourages us to live in the past. <br>When we forget history we repeat its mistakes <br>As the outcome of humanity is cast. </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>THE ALAMO </div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>The leaves of the cottonwoods hung motionless <br>As outside the walls Santa Anna's horde closed in. <br>A small band of Texans watched and waited <br>Preoccupied by combat and how life would end.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The battle raged from building to building <br>Till the old mission's chapel was the last to fall. <br>Over 180 Texans died fighting to the man <br>Never to yield, surrender or crawl. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Six weeks later Sam Houston rallied his forces <br>With 'Remember the Alamo' as their battle cry. <br>Attacking and defeating Santa Anna's army <br>To win independence for Texas or die. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Spanish word for 'cottonwood' is 'Alamo' <br>The long time popular name for the mission. <br>Today the stout-walled old chapel still stands <br>Preserved as a shrine of sacrifice and tradition.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>GENERAL WASHINGTON AT WAR</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Once in command, he boxed in the British <br>At Boston where he captured Dorchester Heights<br>Overlooking the Brits at his mercy <br>As his men took aim with their cannon sites.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The British commander had but one choice <br>To sail to New York to renew the fight. <br>Where the English had much greater forces <br>Who soon chased Washington's men in full flight.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They continued on to Pennsylvania <br>After crossing the Hudson in retreat <br>With the British forces in hot pursuit <br>It looked as though George was doomed to defeat. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">When winter seemed to have stopped the fighting <br>That's when Washington crossed the Delaware. <br>On that Christmas night he captured Trenton <br>Where Hessians were surprised and unaware. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">He whipped the British at Princeton <br>Where in victory his men began to sing. <br>Washington then wintered at Morristown <br>Training his troops for the combat of spring.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Washington fought bravely at Brandywine <br>And again at a place called Germantown <br>But the British were the victorious ones <br>As the dead of both sides covered the ground</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Americans were blessed early that spring <br>When the French entered the war on their side. <br>Though most suffered frostbite at Valley Forge <br>With the help of the French they marched in stride.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The battles raged on, in the North and South <br>As the King's soldiers laid waste to the land. <br>Washington himself was in great despair <br>Pleading for aid for his weakened command. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">His prayers were answered by 5000 troops <br>And a French fleet who took Chesapeake Bay. <br>They bottled up Cornwallis at Yorktown <br>Who surrendered to victory drums at play.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Yorktown was really the end of the war <br>Though not many quite realized that fact yet. <br>But the British soon grew tired of the fight <br>And the terms for its end were signed and set. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Washington yearned to retire at home <br>But his country chose him first president. <br>Cheering crowds waved flags of love and support <br>For they believed that 'he, ' by God, was sent.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Tom Zart's 480 Poems Are Free to Use to Teach Or Show Support! </div><div style="margin:10px 0">By God's Poet<br>Tom Zart<br>Most Published Poet<br>On The Web! </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Tom Zart www.internetvoicesradio.com/t_zart/<br>http: //www.veteranstodayforum.com/viewforum.php? f=38<br> <br>'To book Tom Zart for guest appearances, product, or services, contact Raymond L. LaPietra-Exclusive Personal Manager,913-681-7750 (office) , modelman@careerimages.com (e-mail) , www.careerimages.com (website) ,8802 W.147th Terrace Overland Park, Kansas 66221.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Tom+Zart">Tom Zart</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=531402" data-title="Tom Zart's 52 Best Of The Rest America At War Poems de Tom Zart" data-description="SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF WORLD WAR III The White House Washington Tom Zart's Poems March 16,2007 Ms. Lillian Cauldwell President and Chief Executive Officer Passionate Internet Voices Radio Ann Arbor Michigan Dear Lillian: Number 41 passed on ..."></div> </div> </div>

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