"Known only to GOD" The words upon my stone
or
maybe nothing written at all.
Just a board, a rock standing all alone
To show that I answered the call.
I had a name-I tried to tell,
But no-one heard my
cry.
They just left me where I fell
'til "Graves Detail" came by.
But they weren't mine.
I died in the wrong place,
Behind
our enemy's line
with no name for my face.
"Missing In Action; Presumed Dead"
Words in the letter to my Mom.
Or, "I saw him fall"
a buddy's note read,
"If I find him, I'll bring him home."
No band, no pipes, no fife or drum.
Just the scurry of
passing feet
as they mark the sites one-by-one
and march off down the street.
Oh they'll be back on another day
to
try to find out who we were.
I hope they'll listen when I say,
It's me. Tell mom I'm here.
I was someone's
brother; someone's friend.
I cared, I shared, I laughed and cried,
I carried the battle standard high in the wind,
Then
the cannon roared and I died.
Now down the ages and through the years
I hear the tributes, see the flame;
the gnashing
of teeth, the shedding of tears
for he who lies beside me and has a NAME.
The visitor with his flowers and his flag
Pays him honors, as he passes me by.
My stone
with it's words so sad
Seldom catches his eye.
There are thousands just like me
Who died without a name.
So
little left for you to see,
A simple marker-no Eternal Flame.
No family to mourn for us,
No one knows we are here.
I
have been asked to speak for us,
To give you this message so clear;
"Had she known, she would have come
to show me
that she cared".
But she never did, my dear Mom,
No one told her that I was here.
1998, David B. McCurley
Copyrights Owned By
David B. McCurley
Note By Author:
This was inspired by a Stone in a Civil War Cemetery
that
stated "He came to us unknown and died the
same, this lad of 14-15 years". It is dedicated to
all who died and were
buried as an "Unknown"- no
matter which war, battle or conflict- anywhere there
were casualties whose identity were
not known.
Dave
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