I Am A Veteran

I've watched the morning sun pierce the gray smoke of artillery fire.
I've felt the chill of the winter wind creep into a shallow trench as
I shivered my self to sleep. I've been so wet for so long that my
skin would ache. I've carried my burden in the jungle heat where
the air was like the breath of hell and I've tasted the blowing sand
aged by a million years of desert sun. I've seen the fear, the bravery
and the confusion in the eyes of a fellow comrade as I watched precious
life slip into the darkness of forever. I've written letters to friends
and family at home and I've read letters by candle light, flashlight and
moon light. I've laughed when laughter was in short supply and I've
cried when tears would no longer come to my eyes.

I feel the sound of rifle fire as it heightens my senses, tenses my
muscles and penetrates my memory. I am an escapee of death, a
guardian of fear and a prisoner of reality. I have been condemned,
cursed and forgotten by those who do not understand the cost of
freedom and I have been loved, cheered and cradled by those who do.
When it comes to what I have seen and done in this life, I am proud
and humble, strong and vulnerable, perceptive and forgiving, thankful
and regretful, burdened and silent. I am the Father to my children,
the Mother to my conscience and the servant of my beliefs. I am the
soul of those who tread this course.., past, present, and future.
I am nothing less than human and nothing more than what I've become.
I am the peace keeper to conflict and the humanity to peace.
To history, I am segregated as an era of conflict, a war of nations
or a battle field recollection. To all else, I am a memory of the
forgotten and a prayer to the future. I am a Brother, a Comrade,
and a Buddy. I am shoulder to shoulder, stride to stride and memory
to memory with those who serve.
I am yesterday, today and tomorrow....I am a Veteran.

Dedicated to all those who serve...survive..... and sacrifice.

McCormack***2009
USMC 1968 - 1972