Published in the november 11, 2015 edition
Longtime Wakefield resident Joseph P. McCallion — E Company, 27th Infantry Regiment (Wolfhounds), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army/Korea — wrote the following poem. We felt it appropriate for Veterans’ Day 2015.
By JOSEPH P. McCALLION
A folded flag, a telegram; some letters tied with string/A Purple Heart, your photograph — a graduation ring/Souvenirs and memories are all that remain/You served with pride and honor — you didn’t die in vain.
Broken hearts and empty dreams, funeral cars and limousines/The Honor Guard, the echoed sounds of three successive rifle rounds/The sound of taps in the winter snow/Vivid memories of a time so long ago.
You were so young to go to war and die so far away/I often think of others, too, who lost their lives that way./The bugle shrieks and charging hoards; The Yalu River — “Chosin Reservoir” “Pork Chop Hill” and “Heartbreak Ridge”; prison camps and Freedom Bridge.
Freedom’s price is always high — some are wounded, others die/Blinded eyes and shattered bones; hospitals and nursing homes/You rest in peace — there’s no more pain; no bitter cold or monsoon rain/No heavy pack or bandoliers; no sleepless nights and lurking fears.
No hand grenades or bayonets; no eerie shadows or silhouettes/No fire fights or night patrol/Just silence now — God rest your soul.
