Veterans’ Day 2014

By Thomas Rieley

A lot of bother about flows of funds…
Inalienable rights granted by the creator…
Those who would tax without representation
Shall taste the metal of men who would be free
So now what do we do with the veterans?

Is democracy a fluke?
Or does John Bull loose his grip?
Those who would put genie-o-the-bottle back
Shall taste the metal of the free and the brave
So now what do we do with the veterans?

More conflicts in economics…
And no more west to absorb the shocks…
Those who question will that nation long endure
Shall taste the metal
So now what do we do with the veterans?

Remember the Maine…
The Philippines free…
So now what do we do with the veterans?

The Marne; Verdun; Flanders Field
The Great war; a generation warred out…
So now what do we do with the veterans?

Reprise with bigger guns
And biggest ones for the land of the rising sun
The showpiece for the greatest generation…
And what do we do with the veterans?

The forgotten wars
The distinction between those who do
And those who do not serve…
At our peril we fail to provide
For something to do for our veterans

The wrong types making loose
And our liberties under attack…
Rogue nations beyond international norms
Shall taste the metal of enduring freedom
So now what do we do with the veterans?

Thomas Rieley was a naval cryptologist from 1983 to 1991. He served at Diego Garcia and at Misawa Air Base and deployed with elements of the Seventh Fleet.