Kathy McCarthy

SENTIMENTS OF A VETERAN

Don’t let them take from me
The guns I carried unto war
For Freedoms I fought for
And would do so again.

Don’t let them take from me
The mind I have inside,
The words unspoken
The feelings broken.

I fought a war
That no one cared for
I did my duty
For God and Country
While over there
I dreamt of over here
Yet when I came home
No one cheered for me.

They tried to take my dignity
They tried to take my sanity
I lost my buddies and my family
The flag and God seemed to be
Turned away, its back to me.

Still I have dreams inside of me
Tied in knots, unable to get free
I want to say to those I know
I love you so,
You make me proud
I wish I could be what you want me to be
But the stay in Nam
Took that away from me.

Author’s Note: For Peter Quigley and others