To You Who Gave All

To You Who Gave All.

To The United States Military and their Families,

On the death of Usama Bin Laden

We, who stood trembling in fear,

As the great towers shook,

Crumbling and broken,

Who watched as they fell

Into a mass grave.

We, who cried in anguish,

Over the many dead

Over sons and daughters of the land

Lost forever to our arms,

We who buried the dead, and cried aloud

To God for justice and freedom

We salute you.

To you, mothers and fathers,

Whose sons and daughters

Gave all they had,

Who received as recompense

For your own sacrifice, a draped flag,

A coffin, ashes, and tears in the night.

We salute you.

To you, children, who will never know them

Who look upon photos of a soldier,

And receive not a memory, but tears.

We salute you.

To you, who though trembling, took courage,

Though breaking, stood fast,

With heart and mind broken, yet with spirit

Bravely encountering a world, no longer embracing you,

To you, whose bodies broken in giving all,

Returned home to a world less kind,

Leaving behind the ashes of friends

And comrades in arms whose laughter

Will never again ring out,

To you, whose hearts are breaking,

Because you stood firm, never allowing

That we at home, should taste

The bitterness of tyranny and fear,

To you, who shared

The longing in our hearts for the sweetness of freedom,

And the comfort and safety of our land,

We salute you.  
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Linn-Gomez. All Rights Reserved.