Category: Patriotic

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #M-11

About: Military Service
(Enlisting)

“The right choice can be your salvation.

The wrong one,,, 3 years of hell.”
(Choose wisely.)

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THE COST OF SERVING
© Copyright 2013 Richard Lee King

Uncle Sam called, and the patriot in him listened.
Like a fool he was amazed…. Oh, how his prospects glistened.

They dazzled him with stories of the world’s greatest sights
and with a 4-year enlistment, he’d choose how he spent his nights.

After only three months, he’d get to come back home
and they promised his MOS would be his choice alone.

When Basic Training was over, it would be like a regular job,
he’d work a regular shift, like any other working slob.

Basic Training is a nightmare, it’ll get your skivvies in a bunch,
calisthenics before sunrise, with a 10-mile jog for lunch.

Still, he passed with flying colors, top ten of his class,
just show him where they’re at, he’s ready to kick ass.

But when choosing his MOS, there wasn’t much choice,
they’d made the decision, without even hearing his voice.

So much for recruiting promises, they’d thrown him a curve,
he should have known better, yet heritage demanded he serve.

After his wife got pregnant, he had barely time to pack
and when his son was born, he was serving in Iraq.

He celebrated his 1^st anniversary, near the border of Iran.
He’d wanted to serve his country, but this hadn’t been his plan.

One Christmas spent in a foxhole, in the deserts of Iraq,
and one in some foreign jungle, carrying his 80-pound pack.

In the service, your birthday is like any other day
and when the holidays come, they’re spent the same damn way.

After serving two tours, he got back to the States,
but with two years yet to serve, she still sits and waits.

No matter what the occasion, Uncle’s needs come first,
if we don’t defeat terrorism, things will only get worse.

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Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #M-3 

About: MILITARY SERVICE
(Respect)

“It’s not how many battles you’ve fought,
it’s the manner in which you’ve fought them.”

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BASIC TRAINING
© Copyright 2013 Richard Lee King

Out on maneuvers, during basic training,
the drill sergeant has warned them, no more complaining!

Pitiful wages, and away from home,
surrounded by brothers, yet always alone.

Sleeping in trenches, under the stars,
they’re in a prison, without any bars.

Meals from a packet, they call MRE’s,
roasting their ass off, or damn near to freeze.

Always on alert, awaiting their orders,
a full-blown detachment, defending the borders.

It’s rained since arrival, their clothes ready to rot
and it’s been over a week, since they last saw their cot.

Out on maneuvers, during basic training,
three more years of this crap still remaining.

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King201 #M-14

About: Military Service
(Basic Training)

“He who suffers the most rain…

has more opportunities to enjoy a rainbow.”

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MY SOLDIER       
© Copyright 2013 Richard Lee King

We were fighting in Iraq; it was nineteen ninety-one.
The war was on his mind and I was proud he was my son.

Then the reality struck, Uncle had gotten his man,
thanks to a strong recruiter who sold a patriotic plan.

It’s not that he was wronged, military was in his DNA,
but ending up in infantry? Surely there’s a better way.

Can’t say that there’s much future, in learning to drive a tank,
but somehow, they convinced him it’s a quicker way to gain rank.

He was a brave patriot, off doing Uncle Sam’s bidding,
but the first time he brought it up, I assumed he was only kidding.

He felt it was his calling, his duty, he believed.
When he finally got back home, I’ve never felt more relieved.

He discharged as a Sergeant after a 4-year infantry hitch,
though at that time, to me, it had seemed like “bait and switch.”

But once he’d done his duty, it made a great-looking resume’
We considered that important, and still do to this very day.

He got a military education, then signed up to go to school.
Uncle Sam was footing the bill, no one said we’d raised a fool.

He’s come to be the man; his mom and I had hoped to see.
and I know she’d be as proud of him, as his Pops will always be.

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #M-12

About: Military Service
(Serving with Honor)

 “From the beginning of mankind,
there is one commonality
between each & every one of us,,,

alive or dead, we all have a past,,,
the benchmark by which
each shall be judged.”

Make it count for something.

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CLOSE TO THE FIRE
©Copyright 2013 Richard Lee King

The year is Nineteen Sixty-Three, they’re fighting in Vietnam.
He’s standing close to the fire awaiting a call from Uncle Sam

They’re pulling people’s numbers, who’ll be the next to go,
each drawing we all stand by; will it be someone we know?

 He’s in his first year of college, seeking a better life,
working on building a home, a place for his soon-to-be wife.

By Sixty-Five they’re married, still worried about his fate
and though still attending classes, he’s now working for the State.

She says we’re having a baby, soon his first son will arrive.
If they call him off to war, how will they ever survive?

Soon they’ll draw more numbers, it’s called the draft lottery.
If they should pull his number Vietnam is where he’ll likely be

Some head for the Canadian border.  Others,,, possibly to Mexico,
but if his number is called, to Uncle Sam is where he’ll go.

It’s not about being brave, though that might be debated,
it’s more about facing obligations, which can never be overstated.

This is our country and we find it extremely nice,
but it wouldn’t be that way had not our forefathers paid the price.

Both his dad and oldest brother spent time with Uncle Sam
and the lessons they both taught helped him to become a man.

He’ll not volunteer likely his body won’t pass the tests,
but if his uncle calls, he’ll offer his very best.

Just as his dad in Forty-Four and his brother in Fifty-Three
when Uncle Sam calls, he’ll answer to the need.

In 44 when his dad was drafted, it was to be “the last world war.”
He had 5 kids and a wife at the ripe old age of 34.

When his brother turned 18, they were fighting in Korea
He signed up and told his parents, “When it’s over I’ll be back to see ya.”

Nearly 40 years later, with another war to be won,
his son joined the army and learned to carry a gun.

He wanted to go to college, but it’s 91 and we’re fighting in Iraq.
He enlists in the 4-year program thinking school could wait til he got back.

With each new generation’s war Uncle Sam might make that call
and another family member may be asked to give their all.

Standing close to the fire, facing the stress and strife,
for each new generation, seems it’s been our way of life.