This piece was inspired by my passionate admiration for the soldiers who fight and have fought in the name of our freedoms in the past and present. Though there is one group I specifically wanted to focus on in this work and that is the American veterans of the Vietnam War. The tragic story of the drafting of poor men throughout the country with no college education to fight in one of the most horrific conflicts in modern history. Not even mentioning having to return to the crowds of hippie kids demonizing their sacrifices and services and most educators of today having forgotten their place in the history of American heroes. Many received no medical attention or sympathy for their damaged mental states upon coming back to their country of origin, nor any jobs or opportunities to help them improve their lives. This situation was and still is to this day absolutely unacceptable and shameful and many, including myself, wish to improve it. Though it starts with education about the horrors of the over ten year conflict within the country of Vietnam and the horrors the brave men who were forced to fight it against their will. That is what I intend to do with this poem.
"Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric." – Thomas Sowell