"WISH I WERE A MAN!"

"WISH I WERE A MAN!"

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I remember when women could not try to enlist,
"No place for a woman!" my brothers would insist.
Yet I grew up and found, once I spread my wings,
women could at last wear 'stripes' instead of 'rings'.

The "I WISH" poster was no longer used in WWII,
women became pilots and soldiers, with jobs to do.
We filled the shoes of the men in the combat scene,
We were needed but still had to scrub and clean.

Basic training was a hoot, for we learned to march
and some of us have ended up with a fallen arch -
No gun training, no gas chamber for us back then,
we were WOMEN, "couldn't keep up with men".

Women in the Navy got to wear dress blues,
radio work at a Navy base, some paid their dues.
Army nurses in Korea served with great pride
and held back tears as they saw those who died.

Air Force women learned to fly and help train
the men who would let their bullets fly like rain.
The men training for combat, looked to the sky
to watch the women pilots who volunteered to fly.

Today the story is much different, so much more,
for women fight alongside men on a foreign shore.
America's finest, there for our freedom and liberty,
leave homes and families to be all they can be.

I wish - that there would be no more wars and yet
if the need to serve comes, ask any lady Vet -
that in a heartbeat she'd answer the country's call,
grab her gear and leave her home to stand real tall.

Gone are the days when a woman couldn't enlist,
for she could make a difference, all now insist.
They serve with so much pride and with dignity,
part of the team who will keep America free!

"I wish I were a man" poster is now just a memory
A recruiting tool that's become a part of our history.
A salute to all who have served; who joined the men
and who wished they were a man, I remember when!

Countrymom
2/22/09