Fallen Not Forgotten
by Ray Boltz, released 1998
He stood beside his daddy
And watched the soldiers marching by
It was Veterans Day and he wondered
Why there were tears in daddy’s eyes;
Later they laid flowers
Beside a monument of stone-
He said, Son-My daddy went to fight
And didn’t make it home
CHORUS:
Fallen, not forgotten
He was a hero
He stood so tall
And forever, we will remember
With honor and glory
He gave his all.
They left behind their families
And the towns where they were born
For the rice paddies of Vietnam
And the sands of Desert Storm
They were soldiers in Korea
And World War One
And World War Two
They paid the price
Some gave their lives
And they fought for me and you
Fallen, not forgotten
They were the heroes
Who stood so tall
And forever, we will remember
With honor and glory
They gave their all
Now freedom is a blessing
But freedom has a price
And we must remember those
Who paid it with their lives
Remember the
Fallen, not forgotten
They were the heroes
Who stood so tall
And forever, we will remember
With honor and glory
They gave their all
Fallen, not forgotten
They were the heroes
Who stood so tall
And forever, we will remember
With honor and glory
With honor and glory
With honor and glory
They gave their all
As we here in the US spend the long Memorial Day Weekend that begins the summer, we always should remember the sacrifices that so many of our fellow citizens made so that we could live our lives in freedom. There are multiple holidays around the world. Veterans’ Day(Armistice Day) celebrating the end of WW1; Anzac Day to honor those Aussies and Kiwis who fought bravely over many years in different capacities, Armed Forces Days in many countries. But to me the most solemn and moving of these is Memorial Day. It started as Decoration Day after the American Civil War when the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers were “decorated” with flowers to honor the memory of those who perished in that conflict. Ray Boltz wrote a song about the many men and women who gave their all that others might remain free. The lyrics above talk of a man and his son watching a Veteran’s Day parade and the father is shedding tears which prompts his son to ask him why. He and his son visit the cemetery to lay flowers at a grave, and takes time to tell his son of HIS father who went to war and did not return because he was killed in action. We don’t have to always agree with the reasons that wars are fought, but I think we can all respect the sacrifices that both the soldiers who died as well as the families they left behind made to secure the freedoms that most of us enjoy –so often without thinking about it. Many writers have said it in different ways… the freedom to be who we are, is never something to be taken for granted. Thomas Jefferson said “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Ronald Reagan quoted James Michener from the “Bridges at Toko-Ri” –“Where do we get such men?” Chester Nimitz speaking of the Marines who fought on Iwo Jima-“Uncommon valor was a common virtue”. George Patton said “The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country.”
My local newspaper used to run this editorial about veterans every year:
“War makes strange giant creatures out of the little routine men who inhabit the Earth.
“— WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg — or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul’s alloy forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.
You can’t tell a vet just by looking.
What is a vet?
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating 2 gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn’t run out of fuel.
She is the Nebraska farmer who worries every year that THIS time the bank really will foreclose.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th Parallel.
She — or he — is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang
He is the POW who went away one person and came back another — or didn’t come back at all.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who never has seen combat — but who has saved countless lives by turning slouchy no-’counts into soldiers, teaching them to watch each other’s backs.
She is the parade-riding legionnaire who pins on her ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the anonymous hero in the Tomb of the Unknowns, whose presence at Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the other anonymous heroes whose valor died unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean’s sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket — palsied now and aggravatingly slow — who wishes all day long his wife was still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
Our veterans are ordinary and yet extraordinary human beings — people who offered some of their lives’ most vital years in the service of their country, and who sacrificed their ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs. They are soldiers and saviors and swords against the darkness, and they are nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. “
I know from my own family that my father’s time in Vietnam not only took him away from us during the year he was there, but that his experiences there haunted his dreams for the rest of his life. Yet still he went, because that is what believing in something meant to him- being willing to risk death to uphold the principles he held dear and to sacrifice for his fellow man. I can only hope and pray that I would have done the same-and that by standing up for our own community here today that we can advance the day when we are all accepted as who we are. Many of our members here at Crossdresser Heaven and Transgender Heaven are veterans. Despite the difficulties of serving while often/usually hiding their true selves, they nonetheless served honorably and bravely and bear the scars- even if they don’t always let them show. Many more of us had family who served, and as I wrote back in 2016 (https://www.crossdresserheaven.com/reflections-on-memorial-day/), it is a sacrifice that affects not only the vets themselves but also those who wait (sometimes in vain) on the home-front for their return.
As the years pass by, our WW2 vets are disappearing all too quickly. If you are lucky enough to come across one still alive, take the time to thank them and listen to their stories if they are willing to share them. And to those who died in battle or in later years from their wounds-physical, emotional, or mental, and to those they left behind, THANK YOU and know that you will NEVER be forgotten.
Cyn
More Articles by Cynthia S
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Cynthia S
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- Mother’s Day 2022 - May 4, 2022
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Cyn, thank you for writing this article. Being on both sites, has given me a chance to see so many of our members who serve or have served whether here or in their own country. And to them I say thank for your service.