Inspirational Veterans Day Poems

An appropriate way to honor our veteran soldiers is with inspirational Veterans Day poems.

The first poem is titled "21 Verse Salute" honors our veterans and soldiers, who make many sacrifices for our freedom and protection.

The second poem "Bigger Causes" is shorter - only 4 verses long.

Veterans pay the price for our freedoms. We honor their generosity and sacrifices in defending and protecting our country.



Thank you, military veterans, for your service!

This first poem is "To You, Dear Vets." Well, that's what I titled it until I counted how many verses it has. So I renamed it the "21 Verse Salute."

Veterans - and those in military service - you now have your very own ...


17. 21 Verse Salute

     by Paul Berchtold, September, 2010

O mixed up world, that needs a bunch of wars,
To keep people free, and also our shores,
But without the war there is no peace,
Justice can't flourish, nor wealth increase.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

O brave ones willing, to protect and serve,
Our freedoms defend, our values preserve,
Willing to go, and pay the price,
Willing to make, every sacrifice.

O brave ones leaving, your family and friends,
Ready to travel, to the world's ends,
Base to base, and port to port,
Upholding our country, with your support.

O brave ones learning, how to fight,
Properly use, all your might,
To stop evil marching, all over the place,
Shaking it's fist, right in your face.

O brave ones united, in lawful pride,
Fighting as a team, side by side,
Then the shocking, horrible time,
Your closest friends, cut down in their prime.

O brave ones crying, seeing black and blue,
O brave ones hurting, through and through,
O brave ones crying, many tears shed,
O brave ones shocked, dying, dead.

O brave ones surviving, but barely so,
Cruel the pain, crazy the foe,
Why not me, why my best friend,
Will this dark blackness never end?

O brave one coming back from war,
A different person, shaken to the core,
What a reception, some gave you welcome,
Some met you with hatred, treating you like scum.

O brave ones shedding exhausting tears,
Wanting to crawl and hide, for the rest of your years,
Your mind seems scarred, for the rest of your life,
Who'd understand, stories of your strife?

O brave ones feeling, your life's in shatters,
Alive or dead, it hardly any more matters,
You once thought you'd take it, now it's so much more,
You never imagined, this horror of war.

O brave ones thinking, you'd practically died,
Your mind tortured, burned, seared and fried,
Your life feels worthless, over and done.
Your soul seems lost, your spirit gone.

O brave ones whose sacrifice, seems murky, muddy, lost,
Too much pain, too high a cost.
O brave ones mixed up, in the worlds war,
What seems lost to you, I see more.

O brave ones thinking, you aren't so brave,
It's not how you look and feel, it's what you gave,
War isn't pretty, there's no beauty,
But when it counted, you did your duty.

O brave ones hurting, only feeling pain,
Gone your energy, can't get it back again,
Sit with me when you're at your deepest low,
There's a few little things I'd like to show.

O brave ones look, see the children playing?
They're free to walk to school without a slaying,
You helped bring freedom all the way back home,
May I hug you, Soldier? Huge big welcome!

O brave ones look, see, the flowers blowing,
You're the ones that kept our freedom water flowing,
You planted seeds, in the mud and gloom,
You give each of us, a chance to sweetly bloom.

O brave ones breathe, the air so fresh and free,
Your spirit lives on forever, for all eternity,
Receive from me today, a little hopeful ray,
Veteran [Soldier], I deeply wish for you, the best sunshiny day.

O brave ones when, I see your graying hair,
You are the reminder, to go and do and dare,
To walk in your footsteps, with spirit brave and free,
And always leave for others, a better legacy.

O brave ones without you, we just might be,
Wondering if we live in, the land of the free,
Without you there's a chance, we'd each be a slave,
Here with us you make it now, the land of the brave.

God bless America, but God bless you first,
You were His front line, wherever you traversed.
Wars on earth cause, so much tears and grief,
God now shed on you, the deepest sweet relief.

O brave ones showing, how to do my part,
Imitate your courage, your big and generous heart.
When on earth or in Heaven, our first meeting be,
Count me in as one of you, my dearest family.

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You are welcome to use and share these Veterans Day poems, provided you follow the Poem Terms and Conditions.


174. Bigger Causes

     by Paul Berchtold, September, 2011

Difficult is the story,
The details of battle gory,
Yet there now shines a glory,
One cannot soon forget.

Great is the strain and rigor,
Greater those fighting with vigor,
For causes so much bigger,
Which puts us all in debt.

God, we pray for each other,
Hear the prayers of a mother,
Keep safe our son, father, brother,
Who have gone to fight the war.

Bring them safely back again,
Or bring them home to you when,
They lay life down for us men,
For freedom, from shore to shore.

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             Poems by Paul Berchtold
      © Copyright - All rights reserved.
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You are welcome to use and share these Veteran Day poems, provided you follow the Poem Terms and Conditions.

Keeping Things in Perspective

Here in this fallen world, we humans tend to go to extremes.

While some have gone so far as to spit on soldiers coming back from Vietnam, on the other hand, we should not give our soldiers hero worship.

I remember reading in a book, how shortly after World War II, a lady in Italy was given messages from the Gospels. Jesus was lamenting to his followers that if people would give only 1/100th of the effort to getting ready for heaven, as soldiers will sacrifice for their country in war, they could accomplish much for his kingdom and for eternity.


The Real War

Paul the Apostle writes that our fighting is not against flesh and blood (human beings) but against principalities and powers, the spirits of darkness and wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12-13 ff)

Overcoming sin and acquiring virtue in our lives requires effort, and sometimes spiritual battle, but it will be well worth it in the end.


The Great Warrior Hero

Jesus fought and overcame the devil, and suffered and died on the cross to atone for sin.

People without understanding would say his life was a waste, that he was defeated.

But Jesus taught, "Greater love than this, no man has, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

Jesus laid down his life while we were yet enemies of God. (Romans 8:5)

The same can be said, to a lesser degree, when a soldier is killed in battle. It may seem like a defeat, yet by his sacrifice a greater good happens, and the country is protected, defended, and preserved.

Thank your stars!


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