Submitted by: Paul Andreasen

Category: Poetry

I have seen a thousand battles, and fought in a hundred wars

I have been to untold places where we have never been

I have seen missions that were overt, covert, and some that made movies pale

I have seen places where the sun melts sand, or water freezes before it falls

I have seen mountains, valleys, creeks and oceans, all that I had to cross

I have gone where duty ordered, and done all my missions well

I bear the holes, the missing limbs, and oh so many scars

I don't deny the loneliness, nor the hurt of frustrations pain

I don't mind that folks don't care to understand, or call us horrid names

I don't mind taking their place in line, and going where they dared not

I don't even mind that orders are sometimes wrong, though I must pay the price

I am a soldier, a sailor, an airman, or a civilian gone into harm's awful way

I went there on purpose, so others might not have to, and the need might go away

I may die in America's service, but I will proudly serve, right up until that day

I hope my life, my service, and sacrifice, allow me to help guard Heaven's streets

I thank you Lord, for allowing me, in this way, to serve my country's needs

I think that to bullets, politics don't matter none, and our pay sure isn't great

I know that among the ones who changed the world, just about how I will rate

I have given most, or all I had, to preserve our wondrous nation's fate

I served the Flag, and followed it, from oceans to muddy streams

I just ask to lie under it, when comes the time for my eternal dreams

Paul E. Andreasen, TSgt, USAF (Ret)
ROMAD, 601st DASS

There’s no such thing as an Ex ROMAD

About the author:

Paul Andreasen, TSgt, USAF (Ret) K1JAN ROMAD, 601st DASS CCT, 1278th APS (There's no such thing as an Ex-ROMAD) Psalms 51:10 "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't ind. "~ Dr. Seuss