Remember the Soldier poem excerpt for Veterans Day

Today we are celebrating Veterans Day, a day in which we take the time to honor and remember the brave men and women who have served in the military.

It was a World War II veteran who promoted the idea of creating a day set aside to honor all veterans, and not just those who have died (as we do on Memorial Day). Until then, we had Armistice Day, which was set aside to remember those who served in World War I. The veteran who wanted Armistice Day to be expanded to Veterans Day was named Raymond Weeks. He hosted the first Veterans Day celebration in 1947 and the bill to dedicate November 11 as an official Veterans Day was not signed into law until 1954. Nowadays, Veterans Day is a day to remember all veterans, including those who have fought in other wars. You can read more about Veterans Day here.

I have never been in the military but I am still grateful to those who have served. I have family members and relatives who have served in the military and my poetry book, Remember the Soldier, was partly written as a way of honoring them, remembering them and thanking them for serving our country. Some of the poems in this book were also inspired by events concerning the military that I read about in the news. Some of it was good and some not so good. They all inspired poems. A picture of a young boy holding back tears as he is given the folded flag at his father’s funeral also inspired a poem in this book.

I am grateful to all of the men and women out there who have served our country and fought for us. Thank you for your service.


The Veteran

What’s a veteran?
It’s a question that takes some time for reply.
A veteran is so many things.
Because of veterans we can hold our flag high.

A veteran is someone who made the choice,
Perhaps the biggest sacrifice,
To serve our country and fight in wars.
Some have paid the ultimate price.

They are a brother, father, sister, friend.
Someone with a home and family
Who said goodbye to it all
So that they could fight for our country.

But some veterans never made it home.
They are the ones who will no longer be
Back with the people who love them so much
And this is why we say “freedom isn’t free.”

Some veterans paid with their lives for our country,
Fighting in some war.
Just as we cannot forget the veterans living,
These, too, are veterans we cannot ignore.

Fly the red, white and blue for our vets,
For every veteran who served.
Let us remember all of our veterans.
Their recognition is so very deserved. 

(Excerpted from Remember the Soldier, a poetry book by Dawn Colclasure. Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved.)


Remember the Soldier blurb:

They have fought in wars, and they have fought on the frontlines. They are the soldiers who stepped up and risked it all to fight for our country. Remember the Soldier is a collection of poems honoring the men and women in uniform who have left behind their homes and families to bravely defend our country, as well as the veterans who served.