Who are you?
By Matthew Pride
Who are you, fearless one?
For I know you are an American son,
But from whose womb did you come?
Which mother’s tears were cried for you?
The pure salty tears which fell from eyes so crisp, icy blue.
Which mother's heart is still troubled both day and night,
For you never returned home?
Which mother will never again sleep tight, for the fate of her son
Still remains unknown?
Which father has not a war hero to praise?
I'm sure there is a man somewhere, who'll gladly give back all his days
To just be given one chance,
One more chance… to hug the proud son whom he raised,
To be granted one last chance for elder eyes to gaze
Upon the man his child has turned into while
Protecting the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
One who embodies the irreplaceable American values
To whom hard times and Great Depression gave.
Which of America’s siblings had to continue life without their brother,
Who can be replaced by no other?
Which girl did you kiss,
Reminisces of a touch she misses,
Wishes she could have once more what once existed
Evident only through the tears she slowly and lonely suppresses,
For fate somehow forced her to now marry another?
Which family and friends watched their child go to war
Thinking soon, shall they see him once more
Never knowing he shall never again reach home's precious shore,
Alive……….
Who are you?
Oh courageous one, what is your name?
And whose heart must now bear your pain?
Which courageous soldier fought by your side?
Which selfless brother held your hand as you died?
Which fellow American wiped the tears from your eyes
As broken, perhaps wounded, you weakly cried?
Whose bullet did you selflessly take?
Which soldier failed to have taken yours,
For he was perhaps a second or two too late?
Could you have been the one who turned and ran?
Or perhaps the one who clearly made the demand
That "I will not move from where I stand,
Unless it is to move forward!"
Were you the one, outnumbered and outmanned,
Who fought fearless and courageously on foreign land?
Who, in the face of overwhelming odds,
Clearly declared, in the name of God!
"I will not fail the red, white, and blue,
And I will give my all in all I do!!!"
Never knowing it would be the last thing you would do….
Who are you?
Were you among the ranks of those
Who fought back the enemy lines,
A member of those fighting both the evils of the enemy and time?
Did you stand, powerless, as with each tick and every tock
That passed away relentlessly from eternity's clock,
You beared witness to an evil unleashed
The world waited too late to stop.
Instead ignorantly chose to remain blind…..
Leaving countless of innocents defenseless
As those precious few seconds slipped by.
Were you witness to the most horrible of all of humanity’s crimes?
Absolute and total, nearly complete genocide.
Cold blooded murders,
Senseless slaughters,
Lifeless, still, forever closed eyes.
Were you among the ones who could only cry,
Knowing you could never bring back all those innocent lives,
Burdened with the image of what’s left of those who died?
Were you among those plagued with the overwhelming feeling
That though we tried,
We began our crusade just too late
And must now live with an unbearable truth
Created by humanity’s most infamous hate,
Spawned from the pits beyond Cerberus’ gate,
Or perhaps wielded in Hell’s deepest fiery lake,
And unleashed on our world.
Who are you?
Could you have been among the ones who cowered,
Upon their last hour?
Or without a second thought,
Had you fearlessly fought
And proudly, did you die?
Knowing now, before God, you could stand proud and tall,
Proudly proclaiming that you gave it your all,
And are now ready to join the angels far beyond the sky.
Yielding your life,
As a selfless sacrifice
To join sweet Jesus Christ
In paradise?
All for your country….
All to defend…
It’s true America does not know your name,
And it’s true, it’s too late to comfort your loved ones’ pains.
And it’s true that in history,
Your story remains a mystery.
But it’s not true that your sacrifice,
Will have been made in vain.
Though you returned home,
To be laid in a tomb titled UNKNOWN
You are still one,
Of America’s Sons,
And the epitome of the sacrifices
Made by so many of her own.
May you rest peacefully, for by being concealed with anonymity
Your reward does not remain within the confines of our fame
But rather is awarded from the same divine origin
From which your courage to serve and fight came.
And may your reward be rendered on Judgment,
When The Almighty speaks what from the rest of us remains hidden,
Your name.
Welcoming you home, proclaiming you His own.
So in honor of the symbol you died to defend,
In honor of the meaning you cried for at life's end,
Backed by a pride in the red, white, and blue
America owes you a deep debt of gratitude,
To say simply….
“Son…,
We thank you.”