MESSAGE OF A SIMPLE SOLDIER

I am heading home today
Although this is not the way I had planned
My casket is draped with a flag today
You see I was killed in a foreign land

There will be no crowd there waiting
No banner saying welcome home
There will be no cheers of joy there
No display of my casket in the national dome

I was just a simple soldier
Who answered this great nation's call
I signed up to protect our freedom
Right after I saw those towers fall

I was ready to go and do battle
I didn't care what the cost might be
I wanted to make this country safe
Just as my forefathers did for me

I laid my life on the table
And I was determined to do my part
It didn't matter to me if people didn't approve
I knew it was right, by the feeling in my heart

My division was not a large one
But our work was important to us
And we put up with a lot of complaining of people
Who would shout in anger at us and cuss

But we stood our ground that evening
And we did our best to hold our own
But the Lord had other plans that night
Now I am going home

Not many will see my obituary
Not many will even know my name
But that is not what really matters to me
Going to war was not any silly game

The funeral will be just a small one
Only friends and family will be there that day
One by one they will share memories
Of a soldier who was taken away

Then the guns will fire in unison
In a twenty one gun salute for me
To let others know a soldier had died
Doing his best to protect his own country

The flag will be folded in unison
Then handed to my mom and dad
"On behalf of a grateful nation."
How those words always sound so sad

And when the service is over
They will go to where my parents live
And one by one they will remember
How I was not afraid of the life I had to give

You see I served our nation with honor
I thought of it as a gift from God to me
And when I was asked if I believed in the price
I said I would fight to help keep her free

So may God always bless our great nation
May those who served be able to stand with pride
Remember we did it for other generations
And we served to honor those who died.

MPG
9/26/04

TAPS

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lakes, from the hills, from the skies,
All is well, safely rest.
God is nigh.



Then good night, peaceful night,
Till the light of the dawn shineth bright,
God is near, do not fear
Friend, good night.