"On Memorial Day"

Fighting off of foreign shores
In countries brave to the core
That is how the time in Southeast Asia began

You stood with something larger then
Focused intently to the end
Today perhaps will honor that and more

You understood the meaning and
The purpose beyond command
Was to protect the weak and keep the free world so

What a strangely twisted paradox
That your battle ground would look so nice
A hostile tropic paradise

Murky brown water river maze
Floating through the bullet haze

Neath the canopy of green both lush and thick
Giving way to trickster's worst trick

I was only a child
Wishing waiting all the while
With all the others home who held their breath

On twilight lights star is where I ask
That no matter what the task
You would be safe and decorate no more

Now as adult I see the man
Who stood as one, with many in a bigger plan
Who rode the twisting rivers on the Delta Way

Mates who fell and those who were lost
How could anybody pay freedom's higher cost

Never did you ask for thanks
Try to get ahead or climb the ranks
Freedom and your crew were your only concern

My heart swells wide when I see the price
Realize the sacrifice
Given free by those who proudly wore the Black Beret

Poem authored by: Cyndi Szurgot
Contributed by: Tom Glickman