Fourth of July for Who

07-11-2012

Forward Operating Base Shank, Logar Afghanistan

Early Morning Following a rocket and mortar Attack

By: J. Stephen Donaldson

Fireworks break in the mountain's shadows.

For Democracy

For liberty for freedom

They cry

From explosion

From shrapnel from bullets

They die

Dark city night, horizon a-glo

Black skylight, only the moon dare show

Tank-tops, flip-flops, cool the body’s heat

Kevlar, K-bar, protects the heart’s beat

For Democracy

For liberty for freedom

They cry

From explosion

From shrapnel from bullets

They die

From fairways, from pools glasses held high

From bunkers from towers they flirt with goodbye

Our troops, our troop, we won’t forget

Our home, my home, sent here to protect

For Democracy

For liberty for freedom

They cry

From explosion

From shrapnel from bullets

They die

With blankets pulled tight to cover the grass

With magazines packed tight, filled with brass

The smoke spirals upward, with rockets’ red glare

The tracers snap quickly, burning through the air

For Democracy

For liberty for freedom

They cry

From explosion

From shrapnel from bullets

They die

Ohs followed by Ahs, as they light up the sky

Ahs followed by Ohs, as they prepare to die

It’s the land of the free, home of the brave

But the brave are not home, they chose not to stay

For democracy they call

For liberty they sing

For freedom they prayed

But no sacrifice they gave

From explosion they die

From shrapnel they bleed

From bullets they fall

But gladly, for this sacrifice, they’d give their all.