A European Tour
(An Old Soldier’s Story)
He sat on the old park bench as people passed him by
No one stopped to talk to him or even just say, Hi
They could never realize the places he had seen
And never could envision his life at age eighteen
He saw the Cliffs of Dover and even crossed the Rhine
He visited Paris, France but not to taste the wine
A farm boy from the Midwest went off to fight a war
And his heroic story we should not ignore
At the Battle of the Bulge he caught shrapnel in the thigh
At the bridge at Remagen he saw his buddy die
The nightmare of Dachau upon his mind still preys
Visions of these horrors still visit him today
His eyes are dimmed and clouded but the memories are still alive
As he remembers buddies, those who did not survive
He never got to see Big Ben or hear it strike the hour
Never got to tour the Louvre or climb the Eiffel Tower
He made the world a safer place, so we could all be free
Now we can travel and see the sights he never got to see
Sue Ikerd
May 27, 2015
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