True Intent

The men in the picture below are American and Danish Marines.  This photo belongs to Buzzy Sorensen of the Royal Danish Navy.  He has long served in Afghanistan, he attended the American Naval Academy, and has also served as an American Marine. He was wounded in the present conflict early on while serving as an American Marine.  He is a pilot, and he and his twin brother were born two weeks before my own twin sons.  I have followed his service on Facebook where I first made his acquaintance, and come to greatly respect him and his countrymen who serve along side of him.  Often he posts images from war that deeply move me.  This is the second poem I wrote from the inspiration and story of one of the images he posted.  These Warriors saw an Afghan civilian wounded by an IED, and after they called for a chopper to evacuate the wounded man, the area around him was still taking sniper fire, so in their protective gear they formed a human shield over the wounded man's body. Not only were they protecting him against being shot, but they were protecting his gaping wounds from the "dust off" of the arriving medical helicopter.  Some men are possessed of uncommon courage, and in that courage, the true intent of their service is revealed.

         
True Intent


The picture finds them crouched in the dirt of foreign soil,
Many a mile they have walked in the heat, and still on they have toiled.

An enemy dark and sinister, with evil intent they do hunt,
And then with deadly force they valiantly confront.

Fierce and foreboding in their equipment and gear,
Lethal to the threat of the enemy, they instill a chilling fear.

The civilians who watch have little reference to these Soldier’s intent,
Only having known the tyrant’s agenda to give them hint.

For wives and mothers, sisters and brothers, they have left home,
The mountains of this foreign country to roam,

In search of a threat which leaves the freedom of the whole world at stake.
Their duty and mission they will never forsake.

But now they provide protection for someone inside their human wall.
In the tracking of the enemy, they witness an innocent victim fall.  

The wicked explosive device of the cruel terrorist’s hand,
Brings out the true heart and purpose of this warrior band.

Not only do they stand for those they left behind,
Their lives they risk yet again for the good of all mankind.

This stranger, of another nation, lies wounded and exposed,
Testimony is given by their huddled bodies that they are true heroes.

God keeps account of how each individual’s life is spent.
And at the end will reveal each person’s heart and true intent.

He has foreshadowed His words concerning these, the valiant,
When He said, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

Alone, All, All, Alone

One of the most outstanding characteristics of PTSD is the overwhelming sense of being isolated.  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, was originally termed and officially diagnosed in Soldiers coming home from Viet Nam, but Soldier's Heart, as it was called during the American Revolution and the Civil War, has been recognized since Biblical times.  It also is suffered by persons who experience other traumatic type incidents in life.  The feelings are often the same.  I have had so many Soldiers, and even their family members, describe how alone they feel.

Old Soldiers Sleep Soundly at Night

Old Soldiers Sleep Soundly at Night

When they lay down their gray head, old soldiers sleep soundly at night.

They have borne the battle; they have fought the good fight.

When liberty and the freedom which Our Almighty ordained,

Was threatened forever to be forgotten, and liberty to be stained.

The call had gone out for men with bold courage and heart,

For those willing to wage war, yet from honor never to depart.

He had been young then, confident, and full of vim and vigor.

Muscled and strong, he had possessed the necessary will to pull the trigger.

Soon he learned just how hard and unforgiving meeting the enemy would be.

In those moments another life would be taken, no other way could he see.

Because the enemy had been impossible by any words or reason to hold at bay,

Inside without pause, he realized he could defend all he loved in no other way.

After that first battle, when the stranger lay dead at his feet.

His mind had reeled in despair, knowing that he had sent him his Maker to meet.

It seemed forever he was in a foreign land where all he could see was sand.

Victory, he knew, could be won only by making a committed stand. 

Years had rolled by as in service to the conflict he came and he went.

His children grew up while he was at war, the enemy would not relent.

The sparkle in the eyes of his beautiful wife had slowly died.

For too many nights she lay lonely and sad as she had cried.

They both had known that his absence had been without doubt required.

While she grieved at time forever lost, his dedication she deeply admired.

At long last he had put in his time and had come home never to leave.

For a long time what he had seen caused him deep inside to quietly grieve.

Then the years and hard gained wisdom softened the wounds of his soul.

Peacefully and never forgetting the cost of freedom, he had grown old.

The nightmares and images seared on his heart at the time,

Always he had deliberately kept in a contained corner of his mind.

Whenever the flag passed or the pledge of allegiance was said.

Love of his country and memories of the fallen caused a tear to be shed.

More than most, he knew the price that always had to be paid,

To preserve the country from those whose vanity sent them on evil crusades.

 His own answering of the call for defenders of all that we hold dear,

Was the thing that caused him to sleep without worry or fear.

His debt for the privilege of life in our country whose truth is self-evident.

Had been paid and he knew that his final sleep was growing eminent.

Sometimes good men must do dreadful things to pass on to those they love,

The gifts and blessings of that great precept that comes from above.

When they lay down their gray head, old soldiers sleep soundly at night.

They have borne the battle; they have fought the good fight.