Why Should We Remember?

Why Should We Remember?

We see them out slowly strolling along
Their bodies once hail and strong
Now old gray-haired men hobbling on canes
Among white crosses searching for names
They’re from a bygone generation
Who lived their days with expectations
Now they walk upon sacred soil
Where freedom was won by their toil
And looking upon those hills and dells
Once again they sense the smells
Of artillery, carnage and death
As friends and comrades drew their last breath

Nameless faces cast from the farms
Into the fray where they dance with harm
A sense of duty ordered their lifes
They chose to march to the drum and fife
At Iwo Jima, Normandy
And countless battles on the seas
Boys like you and me, these men
Went into the valley time and again
To buy our freedom so we do not fear
The tyrant who threatens what is dear
Or the terrorist who would destroy
The freedom of every girl and boy

So these are just old gray-haired men
Strolling along over dell and glen
Saluting the flag with a teary eye
Remembering friends who had to die
So with mem’ries flooding their minds
They pay homage at freedom’s shrine
And we need more old gray-haired men
To rise up and do it again