indeed ...
well said

On Nov 11, 2007 6:14 PM, Pensioner <al_knoll@pacbell.net> wrote:

> I post this from time to time.  The number at the end has been adjusted
> downward from 250,000 to the most recent estimate.  Some of these veterans
> need a handout some just a hand up.  Hire a vet, he's already paid.
>
> >>>>>
>
> Soldier in the rain.
>
> It had been a long time since he'd heard that eagle scream.
>
> It had rained hard at the river camp where he and others had spent the
> night.  In the drizzle before dawn, he wrapped his sleeping bag in the
> plastic tarp and gathered his things.  It was only a couple of miles to a
> corner out of the rain near the park.  He stumbled coming up the slippery
> bank and as he picked himself, up the mud on his tattered clothes brought
> back memories of  mud in another place, now so far away.  He wandered
> through downtown, but at this early hour few noticed the bedraggled figure
> with his bedroll and muddy clothes.  The corner near the convention center
> would be dry just across from  the park and the sun would warm things up a
> bit he thought as he crossed the trolley track.  Memories of long ago were
> powerful today as he thought of friends whose faces would never age like
> his
> had over the years.  His  reflection in the glass door of the auditorium
> embarrassed him and he stopped to try to straighten his hair and brush off
> the mud.  Just around the corner,  he set down his bedroom and leaned back
> up against the building.  The parade would be by in a couple of hours and
> he
> could warm up here while he waited.   There was a little bit left in the
> bottle and it felt good going down.  As the  commute traffic along the
> street next to the capitol picked up for the  morning, the sun peeked out
> and illuminated his corner behind the hedge.  He  remembered last year
> when
> he and his buddy had shared the corner.  His friend  had died that winter
> from alcohol and abuse, this year he was alone.  From inside the tattered
> jacket he took three grimy medals and carefully pinned  them on.  The
> street
> was quiet now, closed off for the parade.  He sat in the  corner and
> thought
> how things had gone these past years when he couldn't hold  a job and lost
> his home.  Dark images from the past had stolen his resolve  and ambition
> and pulled him down to where he was today.  He could hear the  parade
> music
> as they turned onto the street a block or so away.  Wiping away  some
> inner
> rain, he stood up and gently took an old green hat out of his bag.  He
> smoothed his tangled hair as best he could and put the beret on at just
> the
> right angle.  As he stepped from behind the hedge towards the street he
> could see the flag bearers at the front as they marched toward him.  The
> sparse crowd at the curb moved aside as he approached.  When the flag drew
> close, he snapped to attention and held a razor sharp salute as it passed.
> Sometimes all you have left is your pride and your memories.  He'd made it
> to one more Veterans Day.
>
> The Veterans Administration estimates there are over 175,000 homeless
> veterans in the land of the free this winter.
>
> (c) Al Knoll 1999, 2007
>
> <<<<<
>

--
roger w
There are two kinds of jobs in the world:
Picking up garbage and telling people things.
Successful people do both, with the same good attitude. (riw)
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