The Soldier in My Heart
64The Soldier in My Heart.
For many reasons
And all life’s seasons.
I write this now for you.
You are the soldier in my heart.
Many years ago the life you knew, was sadly ripped apart.
You proudly stood and served the country.
You lived and fought so others could be free.
You fought a battle that wasn’t yours
And then came home to many closed doors.
No one thanked you or mourned your pain
So many said you fought in vain.
The Soldier in my heart is a Vietnam Veteran. He volunteered to serve though he would not have had to. He proudly said “let me go, let me fight to defend the freedom of the people everywhere who do not have what I enjoy living in America.” He stood up to defend the rights of the people of the world, in a time and place when so many others where running off to hide from the government or burning draft cards and the American Flag on main street USA. He came home to the United States as an Honorably Discharged Disabled American Veteran only to find that the worst of his battles were just beginning.
The soldier in my heart is an honorable man.
He did his duty while others ran.
He fought to protect a way of life,
Free of oppression and free of strife.
He was ridiculed and called many names,
When He should have been honored , He was treated with shame.
The shameful way that the Vietnam veterans where treated when they came home is a disgrace to our country. He and many like him sought to do a good thing. They believed that everyone has the right to freedom and live to live their lives un-oppressed by their governments. They battled tyranny and injustice to build a better world.
The Soldier in my heart, came home on a stretcher. Injured for doing his job.
What should have been a hero’s welcome, was another angry mob.
The Country turned it’s back on him and left him to his own
They disgraced his honor, cheapened his pride, and cut him to the bone.
The pain he felt he had to hide,
he buried way deep down inside.
It was not the hurt from injuries he felt he had to hide,
The hurt of an outcast was his to bear, as his two worlds collide.
The Soldier in my heart came home in 1969 after having spent the last year of his service being bounced from one veterans hospital to another. For the first six months his family did not know where he was or even if he was alive. It was not until his father enlisted the aid of the American Red Cross that he was found and the news of his injuries was given to his parent.
The outrage from the American citizens over The Vietnam War was so strong and so horrendous that the political leaders of the time were forced to separate themselves from all things Vietnam to preserve any hope of continuing their political careers.
The main portion of The Vietnam Memorial Wall was completed in 1982, and honors the thousands of men and women who fought and died in Vietnam. Many years to late and way to little for all the men and women that survived.
The Soldier in my heart, is all that he can be.
He fought and nearly gave his life so others could be free.
A Soldier then and a Soldier now, his honor has not faded.
He stands a post in my heart even though his own is jaded.
He protects our love, and our life, for our family,
The Soldier in my heart means all the world to me.
For My Loving Husband
Sandy.
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Faybe I am glad you found your way to this Hub. I know it is not a "Money Maker" but I just needed to put it out there for him and for me. I do not know if he will ever find a way to heal from the insult that he encountered over this but I will stand by him and always let him know where he stands in my world.
Beautifully put! So many people do not really understand what our soldiers went through, and go through today, and I am so glad there are people like you saying it loud and proud. Thank you for this hub.
Chaotic Chica it sounds like there might be a Soldier in your heart as well.
Beautiful poetry.
Thank You Sandy, It is quite possibly one of the most heartfelt pieces I have written in a long time.
An excellent piece of writing Ohma. Speechless would be a word for it. Thank you for sharing and giving a piece of your heart along the way. :)
Btw- Thank you for the kind gesture of the forum thread. It was funny, interesting and cool, all wrapped into one. Worry not, I'm around. :)
Cags, Thank you very much for your kind words and BTW I am glad you are still around.
incredible! Thank you for showing me your journey. May your husband find peace in his heart.
Summer It is a slow process but he is working on it. I just wish I had a better understanding of how things where but since I was only 7 when he came home I am pretty much at a loss for first hand knowledge.
Ohma - How beautifully written. I have always held a special place in my heart for the Vietnam Veterans that were treated with such shame and disdain.
I never could understand why and still can't to this day? They will always be my Hero's.
I get outraged, with the lack of support for our soldier's as well as their families. What is wrong with our Country?
Great Job,
Sage
Sage Thank -you for stopping by. It continues to amaze me that people still today treat him like he did something wrong. I have seen that first hand.
Beautiful lines.. "You proudly stood and served the country.
You lived and fought so others could be free." Loved your poem and it brings respect at its height inside me for soilders.. good work!
Stephensaldana Thank you so much for you very kind compliments.
The people of the U.S. never seem to remember that they are the ones ultimately responsible for soldiers going to war. Instead of placing the blame on the politicians and the Corporate entities that profit from war, they blame the messengers (the soldiers). I was a soldier for most of my adult life, and I can say that I never required thanks. But I do ask that people place blame where it belongs and READ THE constitution that Soldiers swear to defend.
Tropper22 You may not require thanks but I thank you anyway. I appreciate every sacrifice made by every soldier. It is all to often that they are vilified and condemned for doing the right thing. Your sacrifice has to warrant something even if it is just a heartfelt thank-you.
Wow Ohma this was so beautifully written definitely made me cry. And the picutre you put up top always gets me. This is so touching and loving it deserves two thumbs up but I can't do that at one time on here lol Great hub!
Thank-you Crazd. As you can tell this is a subject very near and dear to me.
Ohma , I am not a veteran but my entire family has been.
PTSD is very very common in Viet Vets , America still , owes a huge dept to those who served in Viet Nam ! Your husband like many , deserve the best treatment and health care this country can afford, Great hub ...be well.
Faybe Bay Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago
Ohma, I am so glad you wrote this piece. The research for it I see has opened your eyes and broken your heart, just as mine has been for veterans all these years. There was a movie a long time ago. I think it was Michael Douglas, he being in protest of the war, his family makes him go, telling him to "be a man" but they leave the television set to go have dinner, and don't see his body being carried past the camera on a stretcher. So many MIA bracelets, so many POW bracelets, worn in memory of those who might never return. It was not known whether they were alive or dead. And then the ones who did come home were spit on, instead of embraced, cursed instead of honored. It was a time when the US seemed to have lost its mind. Honoring the missing, the dead, the prisoners, and yet cursing the one who made it back alive? There was and is no sense to it.
Keep loving him, keep honoring him. The soldier in your heart is a HERO.