At the Tombs of the Unknowns
by Kathleen Rehm
U.S. veteran and poet

These words are carved in the marble stone
“Here Rests
In Honored Glory
An American Soldier
Known but to God”

Not far from Arlington’s Cemetery Gate
By your fellow soldiers you lie in state
From a century of wars, you came to rest in this place
Guarded by your fellow soldiers, in stately grace
By your sacrifices a later generation would yell
“Hell no we won’t go”
But you went
Into the trenches and muck of Verdon
On to Omaha Beach, landing at Anzio
Into the bitter winter of the “Frozen Chosen”
Crawling through the jungles of the Tet Offensive
Danny Boy the pipes are calling… But
You did not come ye back
But there was no hurrah
Your Tomb of the Unknowns is sacred ground
Where our nation’s honor can still be found.

 

---

Canada Remembers
Canada Honors: