They lie, row upon row, in troubled peace, both here and abroad in places where they once were intense Their graves are marked with stark white stones standing tall or sunken, marbled monuments Those of us who survived can revere their trials and tribulations in those days of infamy gone by And in these days of fragile peace; "What did we accomplish, was it worth the try? " For those of us, the survivors, the ones who have suffered thoughout the years Some are maimed beyond recognition while most of us shed tears Tears for both the dead and the living, veterans all and heroes too We the survivors do honor our buddies, loyal through and through For what we suffered the lessons were never learned That peace can replace war; this is for what we yearned In the ensuing wars where many more lives were wasted Lessons were taught by those combatants; yet peace never tasted When again will the lion and the lamb share the same den? The Bible tells us that it did happen; can this be possible again? On this day of memory can minds be put to rest? Please Lord; do not again put us to the test This is my plea as a veteran, to policy makers everywhere Before greed and political ambition forces war, use due care Think of all the wasted talent lying in those graves so cold Those heroes who shed their blood and did not do it for gold God bless the fallen who died for causes, some unknown And be with us, the survivors; that our messages may be shown We do remember our comrades, their smiles; their ambitions alive And thank the Almighty above that we did survive © Zeke Landis(Forestzeke@aol.com) WRITERS' CORNER: INDEX