Welcome Home, My Son

In a very long few hours of driving, my son will be home after six years of serving in the Marine Corp.

At seventeen
High school all done
You knew what you wanted
Your mind made up

I tried to dissuade
I spoke of the rigors of the rules
Of never having a choice of your own
Military life so different from all you had known

Then there was the fear in my heart
The horrors of my own past
The fear that you, my son
Might have to face
The bombs, the bullets
The dying faces

Decision made
I tried to keep quiet
I tried not to argue
The decision you made

You wanted to go immediately
But the Corp made you wait
Then your eighteenth birthday
Only three days past
It was time for you to go

The memory of that drive to drop you off
Stands so clear Metallica blaring loudly
�Nothing Else Matters� they played
I could only grit my teeth and hold your knee
So hard to fight back the tears and the fears
But then you were gone and I had to walk away
Tears I had kept hidden began to flow

All thru Boot the letters I wrote
Each one filled with encouragement and love
Each one saying �Nothing Else Matters�
Just come home safe.

Those years passed so slowly
So many accomplishments
So much to make an old man proud

The leaves all too short
So little the Time
How grateful I am the Corp
Let you be home when Chris
Crossed over

And now six long years later
On Monday, July the 7th
A simple phone call
Your voice so clear and strong
Reading aloud those final orders
�Dad, I�m done I�m coming home!�
What music to an old mans ear
�Nothing Else Matters�
In a few hours my Marine, my son
Will be home

Reviews

[Ruby Moon]

just so glad your son came home safe and sound
^-^

[[untitled]]

Well...you just put this old lady into tears. I will tell you this, I felt in my hands.

[emmajoy]

Can't really review this...

it's part poem, part tragedy, part prayer of thanks.