Texas Association of Vietnam Veterans
North Texas Chapter

Texas Association of Vietnam Veterans North Texas Chapter


Hear Our Voices
Write Your Hurts in Sand, not Stone
I'll Take It From Here
A Poem for Veterans Day 2002, by a Vet
10 Things You Should Know BEFORE You Protest about Iraq
A Soldier Died Today
A Letter to the Dixie Chicks
"Father of War"
Letter from a US Navy Corpsman
A Letter to Terrorist from a US Navy Pilot
The Things That Make A Soldier Great
Forgotten Soldiers
God, Are You Real?
A Tribute to Veterans
Return to Main Page


The Things That Make A Soldier Great

The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,
To face the flaming cannon's mouth nor ever question why,
Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,
The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,
The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall;
'Tis these that make a soldier great. He's fighting for them all.

'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;
'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;
For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam
As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.
Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run,
You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.

What is it through the battle smoke the valiant solider sees?
The little garden far away, the budding of apple trees,
The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,
Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.
The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome
but to the spot, wherever it be…. the humblest spot called home.

And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there
And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;
The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,
And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.
He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,
And only death can stop him now….. he's fighting for them all.

Unknown