Memorial Day in the US

[dragoon500ly]

It's Memorial Day in the U.S.

I am standing in Arlington National Cemetery, watching the last of the politicians finish their play act for the evening news. The business of government must go on, and the good of the nation depends on these denizens of the Hill being re-elected.

Now is the time for the families, gathered to mourn their loved ones. As I walk the rows of America's honored fallen, I bear witness to the muffled prayers,the glint of tears, the whisper of a young mother telling her child that here is where Daddy is sleeping.

How empty are the words of a politician, mouthing the same old speeches, ready to get back to the important things in life. How does one explain to a child, why Daddy will never come home again.

How can one old soldier see through his tears.

I stand over the graves of my fallen comrades, remembering the young men that I had trained with, had partied with, had held their shattered bodies on a blood soaked field trying to bandage their wounds, knowing that I could not save their life. I mourn my absent friends, and I miss them so much.

I stand here, among my fallen comrades, remembering the lives they lived, for what they believed in, the families they left behind, May you never be forgotten.