A MOVING EPITAPH l A MOVING EPITAPH By Jerry Plantz - 2010
Dedicated to 22-year old Army Private First Class Larry Gene Barham Killed in Vietnam- 2/6/68
There it is. This visitor of granite. This symbol of us Here in the present Binding us to the past. Polished and gleaming. Reflecting life, Honoring death. Even as a replica It begs to be touched. By remorseful hands. It was created for embrace, To sense, to summon forth Our deepest thoughts, And sorrowful emotions. There it is. A messenger of love, A messenger of peace, We with bowed heads Burdened with the yoke of guilt And ignorant denunciation Plead for forgiveness. From every Name after name, after name, after name. Column after column, after column, after column. We wrongly echoed Shame after shame, after shame, after shame. Now quivering lips and heavy hearts For every name, after name, after name, after name. Column, after column, after column, after column. There it is. Here am I And where are you? You, who still walks in the shadow of indiffer-
ence, You, where gratitude does not reside. You, whose ears fail to hear The words of valor and sacrifice. You, who somehow believe Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness Are entitlements. And not bequeathed to you By those heroes upon that wall. Or on those thankful memorials Throughout this bountiful land. And under tombstones, flowers and flags. There it is. History upon a wall. As I humbly stand before it Effervescing with indebtedness, Beaming with pride. Words fail me But my tears do not. My fingers sense your being
Your dedication and devotion To your country, my country. And a life lost too soon. Your epitaph lives on In this replica And on Washington’s sacred soil. Where the encomium never ends. There it is. Not saturnine Or inanimate But sanguine and living. Generations from now None will remember me. But to you, burnished on that wall Of granite and blood. Who fought in Vietnam Your name glows. And to you living veterans Who hid your honored uniforms In cellars and closets.
It is time to salute your brethren By proudly saying - I was there. There it is. A moving epitaph. Of column after column, after column, after column.. Still space remains for those Still unknown. As you lie in graves of heroes Take comfort in that Someone always remembers, Someone always makes it right, And we did In a monumental way. To veterans living and veterans dead. Thank you and welcome home. Every name after name, after name, after name. Every column, after column, after column, after column
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September 25, 2010
The Wall That Heals