I Am A Veteran
I am a veteran.
Once a young patriot who had volunteered,
To join the military.
And it was clear a sacrificing of my life,
Was a possibility.
And yet the thought of it did not frighten me.
I am a veteran.
I did not decide,
To slide over onto Candadian borders...
Thinking I could avoid my responsibility.
With an escaping of a draft I did not receive.
I wanted to protect those deserving of freedom.
I am a veteran.
One of the Vietnam War Era.
I didn't walk the halls of an Ivy League college.
To party in between studying for a degree.
No!
But I did take college courses and studied diligently,
While also performing my military duties.
I am a veteran.
One who is Black 'and' American AND proud to be.
But as a veteran I have learned,
The battles I continue to fight...
Are needlessly fought on the streets of my own country.
With people who did not serve a duty at all...
But feel they are more deserving of entitlements,
And a respect not shown to me.
Yes...
I AM a veteran.
But yet I am expected to support,
Those who feed their greed.
As I am perceived,
Not to be worthy!
And so hard it is for me not to believe,
The color of my skin is the reason for that.
I am a veteran.
Conditioned to aware of the facts.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
In Celebration Of A Holiday
Yes I am a veteran,
Of a life given that is well experienced.
And on Memorial Day,
I think of my parents, grandparents...
And lives of my ancestors also veterans,
Of living lives in the doing for others.
My mind on this day,
Is not only on those who sacrificed their lives...
Wearing a uniform to serve time in the military.
I think of those who have sacrificed their lives,
For beliefs kept many today take for granted...
Just to eat and drink in celebration of a holiday.
Only to be glad to spend time away,
From a regular routine.
Yes I am a veteran,
Of a life given that is well experienced.
And on Memorial Day,
I think of my parents, grandparents...
And lives of my ancestors also veterans,
Of living lives in the doing for others.
And the doing for others many who have passed on,
And done...
Should on this day be always remembered.
And as far as wars, destruction and the loss of life goes?
There is nothing about the act of it that is worthy of celebration.
However...
The showing of an appreciation is a more honorable expression,
Than the rushing to feed one's greed as a priority...
To prove a loyalty in the doing of it!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Orange picking
I showed my loose-leaf Passport,
But the sentry wants to detain me at the park gate
For further questioning?
And he says; ' The photograph is entirely different
from your present face.'
'Yes Sir, I agreed.
That was taken before the War.' I said timidly.
'That means you're a Veteran.'
'Not exactly, now only I am fighting to pick some oranges
for my next-door neighbour who's a Veteran and lives on a Wheelchair! '
* Happiness held is the seed;
Happiness shared is the flower.
-Unknown
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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The decision to go to war is the most important decision that I can make as a representative in Congress. As a veteran, I see any potential military action first through the eyes of the young men and women who volunteered to wear the uniform and would carry out such a mission.
Any veteran can tell you it is already hard enough to see a doctor down at the VA and get the health care they were promised when they signed up to serve this country.
quote by Nick Lampson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Not So Patient To Bite My Tongue
Fourty-four years ago,
I had been patriotic AND young.
A military veteran, married and living independently,
In Kansas City, Missouri.
And proud of those accomplishments,
I had then done.
Today...
When I hear people say,
How they walk by faith and pray to overcome.
While doing that to pass judgement on others,
I am not so patient to bite my tongue.
Knowing people like this to be the biggest hypocrites.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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As a former veteran, I understand the needs of veterans, and have been clear - we will work together, stand together with the Administration, but we will also question their policies when they shortchange veterans and military retirees.
quote by Solomon Ortiz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Thank You For My Freedom
November 11th is Veteran’s Day
Where we will bow our heads and pray.
You have been in the big battle,
Where the guns shoot and rattle.
In the dark, dull night,
You grab your artillery and fight.
You are a patriotic man,
Giving America a helping hand.
As I lay in bed and gaze,
I’ll talk to GOD and give you praise.
In my mind you are fighting our enemy,
For the sake of keeping the USA joyous and free.
You are crotched behind a crumbling wall,
Keeping our country strong and tall.
Over in America we are doing just fine,
Hoping you will soon be home from the battle line.
Our flag is still standing and dancing,
While our veteran’s are prancing.
You are as strong and tough as a nail,
Always watching your back from another gun shell.
Thank you all for helping me,
But mostly for keeping America free.
Sam Murphy
Age 10
poem by Sam Murphy
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Boes
I waited today for a freight train to pass.
Cattle cars with steers butting their horns against the
bars, went by.
And a half a dozen hoboes stood on bumpers between
cars.
Well, the cattle are respectable, I thought.
Every steer has its transportation paid for by the farmer
sending it to market,
While the hoboes are law-breakers in riding a railroad
train without a ticket.
It reminded me of ten days I spent in the Allegheny
County jail in Pittsburgh.
I got ten days even though I was a veteran of the
Spanish-American war.
Cooped in the same cell with me was an old man, a
bricklayer and a booze-fighter.
But it just happened he, too, was a veteran soldier, and
he had fought to preserve the Union and free the
niggers.
We were three in all, the other being a Lithuanian who
got drunk on pay day at the steel works and got to
fighting a policeman;
All the clothes he had was a shirt, pants and shoes--
somebody got his hat and coat and what money he
had left over when he got drunk.
poem by Carl Sandburg
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On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind.
quote by Dan Lipinski
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I am a Korean War veteran. I support our troops as much as anyone in this body, but I do so by advocating redeployment out of Iraq as soon as it can be safely done.
quote by John Conyers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I'm OK being the veteran, but I'm still just a kid.
quote by Barry Zito
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I think we are looked upon as a veteran band.
I was a veteran, before I was a teenager.
quote by Michael Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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That's what it means to be a veteran; to be scared all the time.
An Aged Veteran Of World War 2
I'll tell to you a story of one I vaguely know
An aged veteran of World war 2 some sixty years ago
A poor worn out old warrior the years have left him gray
In the early stages of forgetfulness his memory in decay.
Part of his right leg amputated ten centimetres below the knee
As a result of a grenade a horrific war injury
It ruined his chances of finding love and winning for himself a wife
And all of the dreams he's ever had of enjoying a happy life.
In his electrical wheelchair on the sidewalk a sad look on his face
A frail and an elderly citizen and familiar to the place
Decorated for his bravery under fire more than six decades ago
An old man waiting for his end that few now wish to know.
He lives in the retirement home from the shopping centre a short drive
The killing fields of Europe he was lucky to survive
But he did not return home unscathed as his missing limb testify
For a lesson that's unlearned millions of young people had to die.
An old man in his late eighties the hard life on him show
And I see him fairly often though me he does not seem to know
Yet when we meet to his sad face there comes a smile and he always says hello
A veteran of World war 2 some six decades ago.
poem by Francis Duggan
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How different the new order would be if we could consult the veteran instead of the politician.
quote by Henry Miller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A veteran journalist has never had time to think twice before he writes.
quote by George Bernard Shaw
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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There are no lazy veteran lion hunters.
quote by Norman Ralph Augustine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It's not like I'm some kind of veteran and there is this huge age gap. I identify with them more off the field. I need to set an example, which is great, and I look forward to doing just that.
quote by Barry Zito
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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On 'One' Memorial Day
Blessed I am,
To be given the talent to write.
And be able to have public websites,
To voice the plight of those who are veterans.
Those who put their lives on the line,
To find themselves totally disrespected...
By those they defend.
Veterans completing their tours of duty,
Should not find themselves hungry, homeless...
And without jobs.
To support themselves, families...
Or others who are lost dependent upon them.
Blessed I am,
And as a veteran to say...
Being brave and patriotic does not always pay.
And even though celebrations held,
On 'one' Memorial Day...
Our veterans should be praised,
For giving their lives away EVERYDAY...
To the benefit of feeding the greed,
Of those whose selfish ways...
They courageously appease.
Dedicated:
To ALL my brothers and sisters who have 'donated' their lives,
Liberties and the cost of their own freedoms...
So those unappreciative could feed upon their 'entitlements'.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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