Memorial Day
My Great Grandpa fought in the Civil War
Entered when he was 17 years old
He fought on the side of the North
He didn’t think folks should be bought or sold
Grampa raised a family on a homestead
Raised food during the First World War
Never had to fight in the trenches
Fightin’ hard times was his biggest chore
Dad lost an eye in the 30’s
Uncle Harry had an arm that wasn’t good
Uncle Wayne fought in World War Two
Each helped out the best that he could
I never had to register for the draft
But my brother was in the Service for several years
Thank God, he never fought in any battles
Mom still shed her share of tears
I hope my children never have to fight
Never experience the horrors of a war
But we all owe a huge debt to our fighting force
And you know, thats what Memorial Day is for
I wrote this quite a few years back. Since then, our son Tate was in Iraq when our forces first went in. I have two nephews and a neice who served over there also.
God bless our fighting and peace keeping forces!
Thank all who have served and are serving now!
All gave some. Some gave all.
Dennisranch 
Great poem, JB! Believe it or not, Rich’s family is one of the origins of Memorial Day observance. He always told me this story and I didn’t believe him until I looked it up on the Internet one day. One of the stories told of a Civil War General who observed some women decorating soldiers graves in the Hiller family cemetary in southern Illinois, and decided such a gesture should be made into a national holiday.
Loved the pics from the branding, too!
Amen, Brother!
We owe them all that we have.