HIGHLANDER DISPATCH
(6)
NOVEMBER 2002

We remember ~
by David C. Daniels

The accompanying poem is offered to those men that have made this great country and our nation what it is today.

Rightfully so we honor those that serve our nation in the Middle East fighting the unknown terrorists, but it is these men that have served our nation in the World Wars, the Korean Conflict and Vietnam that we honor today.

Thousands of World War II veterans are passing from us daily. These men and this generation not only served us as soldiers, but also as our conscience.

For the most part the work ethic that these men had is long gone, plus the times have changed. Men that worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. Some even holding part-time jobs in addition to their full-time jobs to provide for their families and to better themselves.

For the most part these were the days prior to government assistance and if you didn't get it, you didn't have it.

I recall stories of men that left Putnam County after World War II and traveled north to find work. Some stopping in Dayton, some traveling on to Toledo and some making it to Detroit. They sent word back home that they were hiring and the men of Putnam County, Tennessee, who had the reputation of hard and honest workers, men that worked the earth, were hired immediately.

Being a product of this situation, being raised by Southerners in a northern atmosphere, I appreciated the Southern lifestyle.

The days of porch setting are over, waving as a car passes, talking and visiting with your neighbors is long gone.

Everything changes ... we do not appreciate what we had and what we are losing.

Take a moment, stop and visit and say … THANK YOU!

 

JUST A COMMON SOLDIER

by A. Lawrence Vaincourt
He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion Hall,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man.

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and 20 strife,
Goes off to serve his Country
And offers up his life?

 The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It's so easy to forget them,
For it is so many times
that our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,
Went to battle, but we still pine.

It was not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our Country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand.

Or would you want a Soldier,
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
in the paper that might say:

"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."