It’s time once again for Quotable Sunday! Toni, from A Daily Dose of Toni has this great weekly ritual of posting Favorite Quotes – the quotes that people come up with are very inspiring, so if you haven’t had a chance to check out Quotable Sunday, now’s your chance! 😉

Since this is Memorial Day Weekend, I decided to go a different route since I ran across this poem the other day and decided to post it in lieu of a combination of quotes:


HEROES UNAWARE
By Mark A. Wright, HMC(SS)
22 June, 2000


I first saw him on a park bench
I’ve seen him every day
Sitting in a shady grove
Where my children come to play
Sometimes he feeds the birds and squirrels
Or whittles little toys
Sometimes he just sits and smiles
At the laughing girls and boys
And I never paid him any mind
‘Till one day just this year
I noticed that he wore a frown
And on his cheek … a tear.

Well I asked him why he seemed so down
He looked up, began to say
I lost half my friends 60 years ago today
He told me of the terror
As he fought to reach dry land
By the time the beachhead was secure
Half his friends lay in the sand

That was just in one long day
He fought on for 4 years more
And the 60 years from then to now
Have not dimmed His sights of war

He said they have reunions
Just to keep in touch and share
And for each comrade who has gone on
They leave an empty chair

Well, His park bench has been empty now
About 6 months or so
And if I’d never took the time
Then I never would’ve known
That sitting on that simple bench
With bread crumbs and little toys
Was a man who gave his all
To guarantee my daily joys

So give thanks to all the men and women
Who’re still here or have gone before
And made the highest sacrifice
In both Peace time and in War
Because they bought our freedom
Paid their own blood, sweat, and tears
Then endured the heartache of those empty chairs
For all these years

So please do not ignore them
Or speed by without a care
‘Cause you never know
When you might pass by
A hero, unaware

Want to join us on Quotable Sunday? Here are the basic and easy-to-follow rules…come on and join in, it’s fun! 😉

The rules (for newbies)
~Go to your blog and post one or more of your favorite quotes.
~Go to Toni’s and sign mister linky with the link to your post and then go visit the other participants and leave some comment love.
~Spread the word of course…we want lots of Quotes to read 🙂

26 Comments

  2. That poem was absolutely beautiful. Thanks for finding it, and sharing it!!!!!!!!

    Justine 😮 )

  3. thanks for that amazing poem :)… happy sunday! hope you enjoy your day!

  4. What a great poem. 🙂 Beautiful choices for Memorial Day. Enjoy the holiday!

  5. Everyday we should celebrate all of those wonderful people who take our country into their hands and fight for us. Thanks for sharing this wonderful poem it was nice. Have a great day.

  7. Oh, that poem brought tears to my eyes! Thank you so much for sharing it. Happy Memorial Day!

  9. B E A U T I F U L !!

    Thank you for sharing it with us. Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

  10. Beautiful poem and video! Sometimes we all get cought up in the celebration and forget the real reason for a holiday. I hope you have a Happy Memorial Day!

  11. Oh man that made me cry. My dad was in the Vietnam War and he won’t really even talk about it. Thanks for sharing!

  13. What a great tribute to our men and women in uniform. Thanks and happy Memorial Day!

  14. This is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. Thank you for posting such a heartfelt remembrance.

  15. Hi there.
    I’m commenting everyone who signed up for the comment challenge to see if you would be interested in doing it again in June. Simply comment my back to let me know- http://iamharriet.blogspot.com.
    Thanks!

    I forgot to do the quote thing…ddduuurrrrhhhh

  20. Whoa – I literally got the chills reading that poem. Thanks for sharing. God bless.

  23. I had never heard of milk in the water with the corn. I will have to try it and the ribs

Comments are closed.