Who Will Remember?

WHO WILL REMEMBER

Who will remember the Great World War, the trenches, the wire and the gas?
Who will remember those long ago places our brave young men were at?

Who will remember places named the Marne, St. Mihiel, Norroy,
Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and the deadly Meuse-Argonne?
Vittorio-Veneto, Colmar, Aisne and the Somme.
Who will remember these? Will it be only those who were there?

Who will remember World War II and all the battles fought?
Who will remember the ships and planes and the glory that they brought?

Arizona, South Dakota, Nicholas, Ommaney Bay; Lexington, Shannon, Sea Wolf and lucky Steamer Bay. Memphis Belle, Skirty Bert, Barbie and Punkie II; Lady Luck, Shoo Shoo Baby and Carolina Moon. Who will remember these? Will it be only those who were there?

Kilay Ridge, Aka Shima, Tarawa, Camp O'Donnell; Funi-Funi, Bataan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Casablanca, Mareth Line, Bizerte, Hill 609; D-Day, Cherbourg, the Bulge, and the crossing of the Rhine. Who will remember these? Will it be only those who were there?

Who will remember the Korean War, those cold frostbitten feet?
Who will remember the battles fought in the valleys and on the peaks?

Pusan, Inchon, Naktong, The Bean Patch; Kimpo Field, Chosin Reservoir and the Toktong Pass. Yalu River, Punch Bowl, Hamhung, Hill 342; 38th Parallel, Seoul, Line of Demarcation.
Who will remember these? Will it only be those who were there?

Who will remember the Vietnam War, fought for so many years?
Young men died and woman cried and at home there were no cheers.

Pleiku, Parrot's Beak, Da Nang, Phu Bai; Ben Het, Fishhook, The Tet and Chu Lai. Khe Sanh, Mekong, DMZ, Cam Ranh Bay; Rockpile, Tunnel Rats, Hamburger Hill and Hue. Who will remember these? Will it only be those who were there?

Who will remember the Persian Gulf War, fought on distant desert sand? Who will remember what went on to stop incursion once again?

Suez Canal, Kuwait City, Baghdad, the sand of Iraq; Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Scud missile attacks. Basra, Euphrates River, Haifa and Tel Aviv; Republican Guard, Dharan and Stealth bomber raids. Who will remember these? Will it be only those who were there?

Who will remember our undeclared war, the ones that kept evil at bay?
Who will remember our peace time forces, ready to pay their way?

Who will remember Bay of Pigs, the Cold War, Grenada, Somalia?
Who will remember Haiti, Panama City, and now Bosnia?