Bobby Easton

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO OUR HEROES?

He stands by the cage his eyes full of tears,
His memory wanders back through the years,
To a country called Nam where he wasted his prime,
Then came back to the world to be treated like slime.
What have they done to our heroes?

They used them and threw them away.
They wasted our youth, won’t tell us the truth,
They’ve all come home’s what they say.
What have they done to our heroes?

Who live day to day with the pain?
Knowing they’ve closed the doors on our brothers of war,
Oh what have they done to our heroes?

You were only eighteen and just out of school,
Had Chevys and Harleys, so young and so cool.
The letter said, “Greetings, I want you my son”,
So you gave up your toys to pick up a gun.
What have they done to our heroes?

They sent them to war far away,
They played their war games with faceless young names,
We’re winning is all that they’d say.
What have they done to our heroes…

Our fathers, our brothers, our sons?
We’ll leave them alone when they bring them all home;
Oh what have they done to our heroes?

I can’t tell you I know of the pain that you feel,
For I have never walked In your shoes,
But my hand Is extended In friendship and love,
‘Cause I know that you’ve all paid your dues.
What have they done to our heroes?

They used them and threw them away.
While they tell us their lies, we still hear the cries,
Hopeless and abandoned they stay.
What have they done to our heroes…

The pride of the U.S. of A.?
We won’t give up our quest, ‘till it’s all laid to rest.
Oh what have they done to our heroes?

Author’s Note: This poem is dedicated to Marie and George Leduc, who took the monkey off my back, and Kevin, Emery, Bruce, Steve (the world’s largest elf), and Santa Claus, the first to call me “BROTHER”, and who taught me what “VETERAN” really means.