THE WALL OF FACES

The Soldier: In Memoriam

Seventeen men hugging the ground
In a bamboo thicket,
Before a massive enemy bunker complex,
Dug into the jungle.
Artillery fire holds the enemy in place
For hours. Now what?

Leave? The leader’s passion for combat
Is not yet sated. His consummate courage
Is not subject to good sense,
His exquisite honor
Met the standards of West Point,
He could not be told to care for
His own life and limb.
A final dash is necessary.
To what end? To enrich bravery
And humiliate fear.
The order was given, four went out,
Three returned. The leader was lost.

A life of promise was lost –
To the family and the service,
To the many his life would have touched –
On a whim? No, resoundingly, no!
For devotion to duty and love of country –
For boundless courage and determination!
For being a soldier!

O, the shock that must follow!
All the greater for the depth of the bond,
To such a soldier.
Yes, human nature rules:
All who knew the soldier were touched
And now must grieve – Everything has its price.

O, the loss!
To family and loved ones.
To service and country.
Yes, pain there must be,
But hope, too,
Hope is always there.
Right after the crying stops
And you get up off the floor,
The pain subsides.
After all, you know what the soldier
Would want you to do.

There is much to hope for,
Even in the face of the loss:
Peace will come and, finally,
Joy and celebration in the treasured
Memories of having had
Such a soldier in one’s life.
O, to have been the parent, sibling,
Spouse, child, friend of such a soldier!

Inevitability – some must die –
For their bravery, more – woven, like war,
Into the fabric of human nature,
Must be accepted.
Don’t fight the pain – that sustains it –
Just accept it, so it subsides
And slips away, as it will.
Let healing time go by to lessen the pain,
But not the memory.

No longer to ask “Why, why?”
Fighting words… Rather, to shun the fight,
Accept the loss, determine, at last,
To move on in the memories
Of the soldier, softened,
Treasured for having loved,
And still loving, such a Soldier.

Good Soldiers give us something to treasure:
We remember their devotion to duty and
Love of country in the highest pitch.
Never to be forgotten by all who knew them.
All should celebrate their lives.

How hard the loss!
But how great the memory!
Should that be enough?
How great the memory!
Should one not miss the soldier?
How great the memory!
Okay.
Accept the loss,
Embrace it,
For it, too, is the Soldier.


© 2024 Pat O’Regan

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. Your Distinguished Service Cross citation attests to your courage and devotion to your fellow soldiers. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

Thank you for what you did for your men. I served with the 152nd MP PLT, 199th LIB during your time, but did not meet you. One day at West Point, while visiting the Cemetery, I came to your resting place, read the inscription, and for years now I stop to offer a prayer when up.

May those who served never be forgotten. We can never truly repay the great debt we owe our fallen heroes. Rest in peace 1LT. Little, I salute your brave soul. My heart goes out to you and your family.

The "Friends of Rocky Versace" remember one of Henry Spengler's USMA 1968 classmates, 1LT William Francis Little III - a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross - on what would've been his 74th birthday - 23 November 2020.