Ask
JD Garrett
Have you ever asked a soldier why
he does what he does?
And the answer you get is a shrug
and “because!”
“That’s not an answer”, you say
to yourself, an aside.
Well friend, that’s our answer
and it suits us just fine.
Because:
Would you understand that old Cav soldier, head bowed in remorse;
“It’s fast and made of steel but
it shor ain’t a horse!”
Or the Infantry First Sergeant as
he puts up his bayonet;
“Hell, it’s not right when you
shoot ‘em and ya caint see ‘em yet!”
“But those are just the killers”,
you say with a grin.
No man, you just don’t get it,
let’s try this again.
That Cavalry guy, the Infantry
one too?
You’ve gotten one thing right;
they’re different from you.
In their minds, those steel
“horses” are embodied with life.
If one lets
the other down it could mean their life.
And what of the support folks who
haul bullets and beans?
Or those that turn wrenches, operate exotic machines?
The
Doctors, Nurses and Aviators too.
None of these can ever again be
like you.
Because they all understand the
shrug and…… “because”.
They KNOW why a
soldier does what he does.
They know that some will never
come home.
They understand the meaning of
being alone.
They know that
there’s a homeland that’s in need of defendin’.
And the medics all know that it’s not fences they’ll be mendin’.
And that’s just a part of why we
do what we do.
“Oh” you reply, “I never really
knew…..”
“We know”, says I, “there’s
millions like you”.
That’s why
we’ll continue to do the things that we do.
And we’ll continue to do them………
For you!
© 1SG
J. D. Garrett
Memorial Day, 1994