Legion of Warriors

Last night I dreamed that I had died.  

I entered a Veterans’ cemetery

To the sound of a thousand voices calling out to me …

“Welcome, We are a Legion of Warriors.

We, who took an oath to protect this land

We, who have fought and would fight again

If called to join a host of angels ----

We, who fought for liberty in bitter struggles

At Concord and Breed’s Hill and Valley Forge,

At Gettysburg, Antietam, Ft. Sumter and Bull Run;

We, who fought from Normandy, through the Ardennes to Berlin.

We, who crawled upon the beaches of far flung islands;

We, who fought to save the world, twice, from tyrants --- We Legion of Warriors.

We, who were mired in the Frozen Cho-sun,

The Yalu River and at the 38th parallel.

We, who waded the Mekong Delta, marched under jungle canopies;

We, who trudged through blistering sands and rocky outcroppings

Fallujah, Baghdad, Peshawar, Mogadishu…

In lands never heard of, we have gone before you ---- We Legion of Warriors.

Because we love this land, this very blanket of soil,

We paved this freedom road with our own blood and toil.

So many have paid that awesome price

That America may know: We cherished life… and died for liberty.

Welcome home, Brother --- to this Legion of Warriors.”

© 2017 shed kennedy