(True stories that should not be lost.)
John
Entwined anchors were tattooed on one arm,
A dancing hula girl on the other.
“I got ’em in Pearl, we was drunk one morn,”
“Just before we shipped out in bad weather.”
“We took that island one cave at a time,”
“And we tossed in charges to take them down.”
“I watched up the hill as a bunch of the boys”
“Raised our flag on a long pole at the crown.”
He died just as drunk as he always lived
And there are few that remember his name.
What they recall is a man that drank wine
And told stories that they thought were insane.
Matthew
He was a gentle man, preacher by trade
And he lived just to spread the Good Word.
He lived a long life and stayed close to God
And he never forgot Whom he served.
“We were dropped in France behind enemy lines,”
“And they killed us as we ‘chuted down.”
“I prayed to the Lord to see me down safe,”
“And I hit a fresh dug grave in the ground.”
He’d tell of the fighting they did in France,
One long winter in a land far away.
His service was quiet, just a few of us there,
And some old soldiers who saluted his grave.
They are both gone now forgotten by most,
But for the stories that they left behind.
Just two short tales of two old soldiers
So that we might still keep them in mind.
Tracks of a Wandering Mind 