A Paean To A Generation's Sacrifice

Normandy,
The Atlantic,
Tinian, Saipan,
The Pacific,
Breakout, Hedgerows,
Phillipines,
Bulge,
Iwo Jima,
Okinawa,
In the air, on land and on the sea.

From June 6, 1944 to August, 1945,
These battles went by,
One by one,
All of them won
By rookies
And veterans with less than three years as warriors,
Mostly amateur soldiers, sailors, airmen.

Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, White,
Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Jewish, Bhuddist, Animist, Agnostic, Atheist,
English, French, Italian, Slav, Russian, German, Japanese, African, Chinese, all
Americans.

Northerners, Southerners,
Easterners, Westerners,
Midwesterners, from every state in the Union.

Democrats, Republicans, Communists,
Liberals, Conservatives.

More than one hundred thousand died.
Even more wounded,
And the rest of them lived.

So we could be free today.

God Bless Them All.