Three Bronze Men
by: Chuck Hawkins
(Copyright © 1997)
Forever
silent, but always alert, we stand,
Guarding, watching, waiting.
Our eyes speak the words our bronze lips cannot utter:
You, our brothers, are not forgotten.
We watch
... as friends and family come to visit you,
To touch you gently with their hands and feel your presence in their
hearts.
We have seen, as only our eyes can see, the healing of a nation once
lost,
But now found again.
By our
presence, by our vigil, others see and know
That you did not shirk your duty,
Did not turn your back on your country,
And did not lose your sacred honor.
We are
neither weary nor old
But forever young and full of promise
Just as you, our fallen friends, were once so long ago.
And just
as your names are made steadfast in granite for eternity,
So are we steady at our post, our station of love and duty and honor.
That is our promise to you now.
Chuck Hawkins,
Fire Base Ripcord
2d Bn., 506th Inf., 101st Abn. Div. in 1970-71
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| You remember me,
brothers. I carried the M-60. I watch now, as others pass On their way to honor And cherish your memory. You are loved beyond measure. | You know me too. I humped ammo for A thousand fire missions, Loaded helicopters, Manned the radios, Kept medevacs flying. I will never leave you. | I was your point
man. I still am ... There will be no danger To your memory, none, As long as I am here. Your other brothers miss you, And I guide them to you. | |
| We are the three bronze men. |
Photos are by Don Poss, War Stories. They and others can be seen in his story Autumn's Wall. The statue, "The Three Servicemen," overlooks the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., designed by sculptor Frederick Hart. It was dedicated by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
