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Copyright 6/26/00



Sitting here before the wall

Looking at the names of the young men that had to fall,

In a war that will not end,

One they were not allowed to win.



I see a mother touching a name of a lost son,

Would it have mattered to her, if the war was won?  

Two vets hold on to each other and weep uncontrollably

For the names of some lost comrades who will never more be.



A young man makes a rubbing of a man he did not know

His father who was lost saving his friends by falling on a grenade before it could blow.

A middle-aged housewife, weeps for her lost brother

Leaving flowers and a note, with all the others.



Retired Officers scan for the names of the men

That they had committed in their last fight for them.  

A nurse remembers a young woman killed by enemy fire

After saving one of their own, and a grenade exploded from a trip wire.



These young men and women answered their country’s call.

Right or wrong, they gave it their all.

For a cause we now look back at as unwise,

These men and women made the ultimate sacrifice.



It is fitting they are remembered here at the heart of our nation

So our leaders are reminded on every occasion,

That they must accept full blame

For this, our nation’s shame.



There are many names that won’t be seen here at the wall

These are those that died there but did not fall.  

These that came back their lives torn asunder

Minds that had snapped from the stress they were under.



Men and women who had lost their minds and limbs

To come home to lose husbands, wives, and friends.  

The country would like to throw them away,

But here at the wall, they are home to stay.