50 Years
I posted this several years ago and it received about as much attention as the Vets did. Maybe things have changed.
Dear America,
50 years have passed since the last soldier returned.
50 years and the streets are still quiet, void of welcoming crowds and marching bands.
50 years since six million service members returned from one hostile land to rejoin another hostile land.
50 years and the shouts of “Baby Killer” still echo in their minds.
50 years and our veterans are still dying in the streets. Not the streets of Hanoi, but the streets and homeless shelters of America.
50 years since a war was fought, not because it was morally right, but because it was politically convenient and a stimulant to a flagging economy.
50 years and the six million are memorialized by a slash in the ground and a wall of names. Names that 50 years from now will be anonymous.
50 years have passed and once again, a draft dodging coward is attempting to
lead the very country he refused to serve when he was called upon.
50 years is taking its toll. Fewer and fewer Vietnam veterans are now left to stand and represent.
50 years is what it has taken for America to remember how to honor its latest generation of veterans.
Regards,
Those who served.
About the Creator
Mark Gagnon
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
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More stories from Mark Gagnon and writers in Poets and other communities.
Where's the Glory?
In breaking news, rehabilitated Republican Senator Johnnie Johnson (Pronouns: HE, HIM, HIS) called a press conference from the Men’s room of the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport, Concourse B, across from the Ignatius Reilly’s Lucky Dog stand. The Senator had just returned from a sexual reorientation rehabilitation program in Memphis, TN after being publically disgraced at a Buckee’s Truckstop restroom soliciting sex from an undercover cop three months ago. He is a founding member of the Reformed Christians for Christ, a conservative, pro-family and ex-gay advocacy group. In the spirit of being reborn, Senator Johnson invited reporters to marvel at his plans for a major remodeling of airport bathrooms.
By Cathy Schieffelin5 days ago in Humor
Comments (4)
This hit me right in the heart. Such a powerful reminder of the cost of service and the silence that followed. 💔
A dark time indeed. As if they didn;t suffer enough just being there and then to come home to the one place you should feel safe and be treated less then human and abused by the ones whom they thought supported them. well written Mark
Oh wow, I don't think ever read a poem by you. Except the one you wrote as satire.
🌹💕