Veterans Day 2020: "I Am The Unknown Soldier"

 

There's a graveyard near the White House

Where the Unknown Soldier lies,

And the flowers there are sprinkled

With the tears from mother's eyes.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington, Virginia

I stood there not so long ago

With roses for the brave,

And suddenly I heard a voice

Speak from out of the grave:

"I am the Unknown Soldier"

The spirit voice began,

"And I think I have the right

To ask some questions man to man.

"Are my buddies taken care of?"

Was their victory so sweet?

Is that big reward you offered

Selling pencils on the street?

Did they really win the freedom

They battled to achieve?

Did you still respect that Croix de Guerre

Above that empty sleeve?

Does a gold star in the window

Now mean anything at all?

I wonder how my old girl feels

When she hears a bugle call.

"And that baby who sang

'Hello Central, give me no man's land'-

Can they replace her daddy

With a military band?

"I wonder if the profiteers

Have satisfied their greed?

I wonder if a soldier's mother

Ever is in need?

"I wonder if the kings, who planned it all

Are really satisfied?

They played their game of checkers

And eleven million died.

I am the Unknown Soldier

And may be I died in vain,

But if I were alive and my country called,

I'd do it all again."

Billy Rose
(1899-1966)
American songwriter and lyricist