Warring nations can call a truce
Or they can ask for a cease-fire
Try something, like an armistice
To bring an end, to wartime ire.

The guns may stop the shooting
While the bombs no longer burst
The din of war may quiet down
And the Troops may be dispersed.

The body counts may be totaled
The wounded, sent home to heal
Newspapers proclaim, "War Ends!"
To most, war's horror, seems unreal.

Things may return to normal
The feuding people go their way
Out of sight and out of mind
It's just another ordinary day.

For most of us, memories dim
It just becomes part of the past
If it didn't touch us directly
It's doubtful any pain will last.

But, for so many Troops returning
It's a different World, for sure
Wounded deeper than the flesh
For some, there will be no cure.

With images burned in the mind
And the sounds of death and pain
The guilt of another life taken
Having been to the edge of, sane.

With some, a look into their eyes
Will show you, a different being
Not the one, you knew before
That you looked forward to seeing.

War opens a new dimension
That most of us will never see
The World they had left behind
Will now, forever, cease to be.

Sometimes, they'll speak about it
But, for most, it's held inside
And sadly, for far too many
There's that pain, they cannot hide.

When those folks return to us
From where, most will never know
We must try to understand them
When they let other feelings show.

They all have Served their Nation
For that's what, Soldiers are for
Each deserve our praise and thanks
Although not all, have gone to War.

Each knows there is the chance
That, any time of day or night
They may be called upon to deploy
And be sent somewhere to fight.

All Veterans who have served us
Through long hours with little pay
Should be respected all the time
Not only, just on, Veterans Day.

Del "Abe" Jones
11.08.2008