This Fourth of July holiday, during the nation's annual celebration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, there will be some who visit the Ellis County Veterans Memorial.

Dedicated to those who lost their lives while serving the country, the memorial contains the words of a poem, "Think of Me."

Written by Louisiana native Loyde 'Snake' Arender, a Viet Nam veteran, the poem is flanked on one side by the words of Gen. George S. Patton and on the other by words from Gen. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State.

Arender himself visited the site earlier this year for the first time. It was Memorial Day Weekend, and "it was just time to do so," he said in an interview.

Arender wrote "Think of Me" in 1988 as he was preparing a presentation for a Memorial Day service in Ouachita Parish, La., where he and his wife had been the driving forces behind a memorial for the servicemen of that area who had lost their lives during the Viet Nam War. Arender notes that Ouachita Parish paid a heavy price during that time of conflict.

"We had 42 men lost," said Arender, who served two tours in Viet Nam as a machine gunner before returning home to Louisiana. Entering the field of law enforcement, he was serving as a Monroe, La., police officer when he and his wife helped establish the memorial.

"I wrote the poem early one morning, the morning of one of the Memorial Day services. It was pouring rain, and I was laying in the floor with my coffee. I wanted to write a little speech, and there in the quiet of the morning, I more or less thought, 'Lord, what would someone say from the grave?' " Arender said, saying that the words began coming to him in a rush. "I really couldn't write as fast as the words came to me."

Arender believes the words were inspired by God and by the servicemen whose words the poem is intended to reflect.

"I only wrote the words down," he said. "I can't take the credit, I just wrote it down."

Since its inception, the poem has seen use in various functions across the nation - including at least eight military funerals. Ellis County Veterans Memorial co-founder Perry Giles read the poem and contacted Arender to use it on the monument, which is located on the grounds of the Waxahachie Civic Center.

"I think it's an appropriate poem," Arender said, "and I think it's a great honor that Perry chose to use it on the memorial."

He continues to give permission for the poem to be used and would like to see it adopted nationally as a poem to be said in memory of those men and women who give their lives while in the service.

For Arender, who saw many of his fellow servicemen die in service while in Viet Nam, there is a distinction to be pointed out when a reference is made to a "life freely given" by a member of the military.

"Every name on a memorial is an individual that wanted to live. They had lives and expectations of life," he said. "They go willingly and they know they could lose their life for something they deem worthwhile. But their lives were not freely given; their lives were taken from them."

Arender's first tour in Viet Nam began in 1968.

"Within two weeks realized I was not fighting for my country but for two worthwhile causes – my buddies and my butt," said Arender, who has chronicled much of his service years on his Web site.

He can talk about his experiences - and his poems are a way to cry about some of those experiences, he said, saying that he started writing "as a way to deal with it."

And it was in Viet Nam that he says he learned the true meaning of equality - because everybody had to depend on everyone else.

"It didn't matter whether you were black, white, red or yellow," he said. "We were eating the same food, fighting the same mosquitoes, it was the same mortars and bullets coming at us - there were no favorites. When your life depends on one another, you're equals."

Arender said before he leaves this earth he hopes to see the day when America is truly united. He's admittedly outspoken and disagrees with hyphenation to represent ethnic background and he says he knows his outspokenness on such a topic has drawn him as much criticism as it has praise.

"We're Americans and we need to eliminate the hyphens," he said, saying that people should just refer to themselves as Americans and not hyphenate to represent a race or culture. He's for the abolition of affirmative action, saying there was a time when that was needed, but that the nation needs to move forward and remove any type of favoritism or special recognition.

To continue to have special classes is to undermine the nation's unity, he said, saying, "I don't know the word I'm looking for, but it's a state of being. It's something in and of itself when you say, 'American.' We're a melting pot, and we're Americans."

What needs to be taught and practiced is respect between all people, he said.

"The one thing wrong with this world is greed, and to be better is to respect others. Respect me even though I'm different, and we'll reach a happy medium and get along," he said.

It's the seeking of a world of equality that has him sharing his experiences and philosophies along with his writings and poems. An outgoing individual, Arender has no hesitation when professing his love for his country and says he would fight again today if called upon to serve.

"I believe in supporting the person you love, and I'll support America right or wrong, and hope she learns from the mistakes she makes," he said.

Since first contacted by Ellis County Veterans Memorial co-organizer Perry Giles asking to use the poem, Arender has been trying to make a visit to Waxahachie. He was happy to finally make the trip this Memorial Day weekend, bringing along his wife of 38 years, Sharon Kay, and their grandchildren.

Along with the comfort of his poetry, Arender credits Sharon with providing him unconditional support through the years.

"I love her with all my heart, soul and mind," he said. "When we married, I believed that I loved her as much as possible. I was wrong. I love her 20 times more if not more than that today."

Family is important to Arender, and he wants to see the nation he has served put more focus on family life, saying especially that more time needs to be spent with children.

"If you talk to a lot of people today and ask them how many minute they actually speak to their children each day, you'll find that a lot of them don't see their children six to 12 minutes. How can you really know someone in six to 12 minutes?" he asks.

At 55 years of age, Arender said he's "probably done 250 years of living," with the life experiences he's had. He's facing a medical concern that he says might mean he doesn't have much time remaining. And although he said he would "hate to leave my wife and grandkids," he says he's ready to go if called home by the Lord.

And for whatever life he has left - whether it's a few months or many years - Arender intends to continue to live it to the fullest.

"For some reason, the Lord left me here. I've done the best I could and learned from my mistakes, and I hope the world's a little bit better because of my presence," he said. "I want to believe that I've done more good than harm."

People should do something they enjoy with their lives and at the same time do something that betters the world, he said. "They need to do something for the betterment of mankind in some way. You feel so much better when you accomplish something."

Through his Web site and word of mouth, he continues to seek out those who he served with in Viet Nam and welcomes people to contact him.

"I'm interested in hearing from everybody," said Arender, who said if he had one wish, it would be that there are no more lives lost that call for the reading of "Think of Me."

"I wish there was something I could do so no young man or woman would ever have to die again," he said, "but freedom's price is usually paid for in blood."

On the Internet: http://www.combatwife.net/mmsnake.htm