We did it for honor; we did it for pride
not for self but our country and flag.
Not for the money,
we fought side by side
in deserts and in jungles against tyranny and lies
willing to give up our lives so others might not die.
We watched buddies fall
in those far and distant lands
left in shallow graves
with nothing but a broken rifle and helmet
to mark their place, with tarnished old tags
to tell us their number and name.
They were willing to die so that others might not
They did it for honor; they did it for pride
not for self but for country and flag.
Each one that fell
took a piece of our soul.
We live each day remembering that hell.
With each passing flag we remember their names
and in the tears of our hearts that fall from our eyes
we see the faces
of our buddies that fell
in those tears, on parade.
Kenny D. Hoke
Socorro