A Soldier's War of Courage

Courage is standing in the middle of a war zone
Not knowing if you’ll be making it back home
Courage is leaving your loved ones behind
Not knowing for sure if you were seeing them for the last time
Courage is holding the weapon in your hand in a do or die place
Not showing the enemy traces of your fear and despair on your face
Courage is able to sleep at night with one eye open and eye closed
Not knowing if tomorrow, you’ll be the next one not coming home
Courage is reading a letter from a loved one holding back the tears
Remaining strong is your mission and survival becomes your darkest fears
Courage is seeing soldiers die right in front of you
While you are aware that your life is at risk for a mission you were born to do
Courage is being a hero in everyone’s eyes
Whether or not you come out alive
There, you will always and forever remain; a Soldier’s War of Courage…

poem by Gail Doyle
Added by Poetry Lover
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A Hero With A Purple Heart

A Hero With A Purple Heart

They say the war has long been over but yet I live it everyday
The smell of gun powder still filters through my nose while the sound of guns shuts still leave a ring in my ears
The sound of explosions I still hear like it was just yesterday
The sound of fireworks makes me want to run to the nearest place to hide
The screams of men wounded and killed roll through my mind like an unstoppable slideshow
Leaving my heart pounding with paranoia due to the memories that haunted me inside
Everyday I’m living the war even though they say it’s been over for a long time
Today they call people like me a hero with a purple heart
Although there is a big price to pay carrying a heart that has been affected by the war
Everyday I think that myself or the people I love is going to get shot
Everyday I suffer from the flashbacks resulting from what doesn’t exist anymore
The doctors call it shell shock
I call it a taste of hell that altered my soul
To the world I’ll always remain a hero with a purple heart
To myself I’ll still be fighting the Vietnam War that was over years ago…

poem by Gail Doyle
Added by Poetry Lover
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