Stories & Poems About War

 

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The American Fighting Man

by James L. Wattenbarger

 

 

I fought the British red coats; Served Washington with pride.

I marched with Grant, and yes, with Lee. I fell at Custer's side.

I made the charge up San Juan hill. I "held" at the Alamo.

A threat to peace-- The first world war, And I was called go.

 

I shed my blood throughout War II, On sand and jungle tree;

They pulled me from the flaming wrecks; They buried me at sea.

At Korea's thirty eighth parallel I soldiered amid the sham.

I left my loved ones, took up arms, And died in Vietnam.

 

On every conceivable battlefield, desert sand to jungle marsh,

I suffer the agonies, the mortal wounds, In conditions most brutal and harsh.

I've viewed the bombed out cities And grieved for all that's lost;

I ponder, in my saddest hour. . . What could warrant such human cost?

 

The answer, of course, is freedom! Freedom defines the job I do.

I volunteer, I'm called, I serve, On freedom's maintenance crew.

Yes, career or citizen soldier, I serve the higher plan,

Of honor, God, and country-- I'm the American fighting man