Colin F. Jones, J.J. McCloud and Thurman P. Woodfork

MEMORIALS OF THE HEART ~ A TRILOGY

IF YOU ARE KILLED

If you are killed that you are left there lying,
Among the shattered earth where the battle raged,
That we who love you are left here sad and crying,
Then all resources will be for thee engaged
Where ere you lie we shall come and find you,
Take your bodies back where they belong,
We shall honour thee and bid thee fair adieu,
And sing aloud with pride the national song.
For none shall be lost who fight for good and right,
None shall be left to waste away unknown,
We’ll mount you in our memories with fond delight,
Carve your names into a wall of marble stone,
That where you lie there will always be a light
Shining from the windows of your home.

©Copyright June 16, 2007 by Colin F. Jones

IF I AM KILLED

If I am killed and my body is left in the carnage of the battlefield where I fought and gave my life blood to nourish the ground where I lay.

Do not say that I am lost; I am not lost as long as someone says my name. Do not expend your resources to bring my mortal remains to what was my home,

I am where I am supposed to be and where I want to be. Here in this battlefield where men have fought since time began. Here I am with my brothers.

Do not memorials, make for me. If memorials you need to remember me, then know that I am not there ‘neath the sod where the Memorial stands – nor am I lost.

I know where I am and I want to stay here, here in this ancient battlefield where good men all fought and died. Leave no light to guide my way to you in the window.

I am not coming towards your light; rather I go towards a different light, a light that beckons the Soldier who has lost his battle, a light that is welcoming and warm.

Do not mourn for me, do not your tears shed for this Soldier who has lived countless times before and will again when Nations beckon my kind.

When that happens, I will return to the home of my ancestors, don my armor, and again go forth to fight and die as I have done countless times.

Please, call your search for my remains off, call to you the beings in the skies that disturb my sleep, do not search for me, I know where I am, and I am happy.

Here I wish to remain, remain with my brothers; I am tired now and only wish to sleep until again my spirit is called forth.

©Copyright June 16, 2007 by JJ McCloud

For Bob Drury ~ BlueGhost Two-Zero
Troop F, 8th Cavalry (BlueGhost) Vietnam
May ‘69 – December ‘70BROTHERS MINE

Brothers, brothers, where’d you go?
Off to heaven and left me below
Full of sorrow unexpressed,
Alone and grieving, so bereft.
Though I often feel you near
I wish so much you were really here.
I miss the comradeship we shared,
The crazy things we sometimes dared.
There’s a yearning in my soul
Where you once made it whole…
And some guilt that I still live
While you gave all there is to give.
But, surely as the sun brings dawn,
While I breathe, your memory lives on.
Search the world; you’ll never find
A truer memorial than my mind.

©Copyright October 31, 2006 by Thurman P. Woodfork