Stars and Stripes

[couchgrouch]

Stars and StripesThat corp'ral was nervous, just a kid after allno medals cos he hadn't, yet served beyond the callwhen he met that gen'ral, he snapped a sharp salutethat gen'ral growled and said he, hated bein' interviewedlooked restless in that room, said he took his first woundin the Korean warthat poor kid sweat and thought, that day the toughest jobwas being a reporter forthe Stars and Stripes, Stars and Stripesit takes honor and nerve, to join and to serveand those stories are told in the Stars and Stripeshe got a field promotion, in a midnight foxholewhen his lieutenant was killed, by enemy patrolsthat corp'ral asked how it felt, to get his second starnext to them his two stripes, seemed like nothin' at allthat gen'ral shook his head, cussed a bit and said"when you've seen what I've seenofficers and grunts both die, and Sonny in the skythere's no diff'rence betweenStars and Stripes, Stars and Stripesit takes honor and nerve, to fight and to serveand freedom needs both Stars and Stripeshe said though he was proud, of each medal on his chestthe greatest commendation, he hadn't gotten yetthat kid didn't know what he meant, till that gen'ral's deathwhen he wrote a solemn story, of a warrior buried withthe Stars and Stripesthe Stars and Stripes(c)2006 Robert George