This past week I had the honor of helping to set up "The Wall That Heals", a half-sized, traveling replica of "The Wall" in Washington, at the VFW in Dickson, TN. This year is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the dedication of "The Wall".

FOR A QUARTER CENTURY

They are listed in the order
Of the way our Heroes fell
Behind each name many stories
That, they never got to tell.

Millions have read those names
Many, loved ones and friends
A Memorial to all those lost
And the pain which never ends.

There's those Missing in Action
And space for those yet to die
Their names added as they fall
As many still ask the question, Why?”

“The Wall” is above those politics
Which have come with every war
But, those who fight them know
What, their Sacrifice is really for.

We must never forget those Heroes
Etched there, in that black stone
And all Americans should visit them
To show, they will never be alone.

A quarter century it has stood
To Honor those who gave their all
Who marched off into the battle
When, they heard their Country's call.

08.24.2007

a couple older ones >

VOICES FROM THE WALL

Many loved ones and friends
Carved in that cold, black stone
But, inside that huge Monument
We know they're safe and not alone.

There are many thousands in that Wall
And each year we must sadly, add a few
With the average age of War casualties
Twenty-three, and as young as sixteen, too.

Those Heroes who died in that War
Finally, given Honors they deserved
With the Memorial in Washington
But, with many spaces still reserved.

This replica, which travels 'round
So all people have the chance to see
To touch it and maybe shed a tear
About this era of our History.

Maybe there, amongst those names
You may have a friend or a loved one
You can make a “rubbing” image of it
And take it with you, when you're done.

This Wall brings those lost to us
A bit closer, and the loss more real
To those who didn't lose someone
And gives them too, the chance to feel.

Every citizen should see it once
To realize just what War can cost
Not in dollars, but pain and suffering
And all these thousands of lives lost.

Sadly, we are at it once again
And someday will need another place
Where we can etch names of those killed
Where other folks have names to trace.

Maybe someday the need for people
To fight and kill their fellow man
Will be replaced with World Peace
Hopefully, that is in, some plan.

But till then we have these Monuments
To show our thanks for those who Served
A small token of our gratitude
Not nearly what, they all, deserved.

So, as we hear those names calling
And asking, "Will you never see?
War and conflict aren't the way!
Just look at what, it did, to me!"

02.13.2007

THE WALL

There's a wall of marble
Five hundred feet long -
Ten feet high, scribed with names
Of those who died, the strong.

*There's more than fifty-eight thousand
Etched upon that stone -
Most of them died so young
This life, they've never known.

It's such a small tribute
To those who fought our war -
Such a small price we pay
To those who gave much more.

Their name carved in a rock
That most of us won't read -
Not near enough praise to give
For their most gracious deed.

Seems there's too many of us
Who don't really seem to care
That we stayed home secure and safe
While they died over there.

Remember when you see that Wall
With all those initials and names
That those men were only pawns
In one more of those deadly games.

Let's hope what they gave had meaning -
And that peace will always reign -
That we won't have to send our young
To fight and die again.

*At the time of writing, 1982, it was,
“fifty-seven thousand”.

Del "Abe" Jones