Proudly Presents the
Brotherhood Award For War Poetry Excellence
To Forrest Lee Horn for both
"The Heart Of A Soldier" and
"The High Ground"
Presented May 28, 2003
I met him at the Wall, that dark September day;
his eyes were clear and bright, although his hair was gray.
He wore a faded jacket, and as he knelt and prayed,
I looked in admiration at the medals there displayed.
Proud of my own new uniform, I stood straight and tall,
beside this older Veteran, now weeping at the Wall.
His hands seemed somehow faded, like the tiny flag they held.
He stumbled slightly as he rose; I now his cane beheld.
And as he looked at me, his eyes still filled with tears.
a smile of recognition came, despite my fewer years.
One glance at my chevron’d sleeve, another at my chest,
told him of my recent past, my face told him the rest.
“In Vietnam they said we lost;” deep pain now filled his eyes.
“But I remember, yes I remember, the agony and cries.”
“For many years I’ve kept this flag, and carried it with pride,
in mem’ry of our comrades there who fought and bled and died.”
“I tried to re-enlist,” he said, “They said I was too old.”
“And this old leg feels greater pain, ‘specially in the cold.”
My own eyes now filled with tears as he gave the flag to me.
“Carry this for all the others who died to keep us free.”
I think about that old Soldier, who passed to me the dream,
a’kneelin’ here with all my gear beside an Afghan stream.
I swear by all that’s holy that I will do my best,
to save the dream, then touch the flag now sown into my vest.
“Duty, honor, Country,” now becomes my creed,
I serve the cause of liberty, I ride sweet freedom’s steed.
As we remount, the rotors whir, o’er Afghan plains we fly,
I touch the flag and now recall, “Old Soldiers never die.”
Forrest Lee Horn
Copyright 9/14/01
( In loving memory of PVT Peter Borsay, and the rest of the 53,000 )
Remember how important "high ground" always was, and how we fought to hold it, despite
the bullet's buzz?
Now you hold new high ground, far away and high. Do you watch down on us still here, from high ground in the sky?
And I'll be along directly, my brother and my friend. I'll help you hold the high ground; new lands will we defend.
I'll have your back, my brother, and you'll be there for me. Just like so many other times, fighting to be free.
So many now don't understand the sacrifice, the cost. Have they so soon forgotten? Is honor truly lost?
And I'll be along directly, my brother and my friend. I'll help you hold the high ground; new lands will we defend.
Yet now we see the new breed, warriors brave and true. They do us proud; they remember those like me and you.
I know they make you glad, these young ones in the fight. They keep the pledge to freedom, to honor, and the right.
So I'll be along directly, my brother and my friend. I'll help you hold the high ground; heavn's lands will we defend.
Forrest Lee Horn
CPT, INF, USA
(Retired/Disabled)