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Would I Be Willing
Would I be willing a second time to do it all over again,
Knowing what I know now, but I did not back then?
Would I be willing to place my hand over my heart in front of the bandstand,
Knowing what I do now of things commanders without honor can so carelessly demand?
Would I be willing to hear the questions of our children and to look into their eyes,
Knowing what I do now, just how would I answer the pleas and their cries?
Would I be willing to spend nights alone thinking of the threat the enemy would wield,
Knowing what I do now of how many would take their own lives after the battlefield?
Would I be willing to see him brought off the plane on the gurney,
Knowing what I do now, would I still agree to make this journey?
Would I be willing to hold back tears, and kiss him goodbye with a smile,
Knowing what I do now of the horrors of PTSD mile after mile?
Would I be willing to roll him again and again down the VA corridors,
Knowing what I do now about all it means to be a Wounded Warrior?
Would I be willing to hear the bugler play Taps, and to accept the folded flag in my hand,
Knowing what I do now of how this endeavor was lacking in a wise and committed plan?
Would I be willing a second time to do it all over again,
Knowing what I do now, but I did not back then?
Two more Soldiers gave their lives last week in a war in Afghanistan that we have declared is over.
