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Click hereWe are the Old Guard
We are legion
We are mostly invisible
You look right through us
We are regarded as old men, as broken youths
As less than people, as diminished men
We are honored as if we are already dead
We are celebrated as if we cannot contribute again
But we are strong
An old man remembers how to lead with a machine gun
A young man with a cane a can still direct artillery
A man in a wheelchair can still thread a needle at 500 yards
My cane is not necessary to crush a windpipe
My wheelchair is not necessary to give accurate cover fire
My missing leg is not necessary to man a turret
My missing eye is not necessary to walk a foot patrol
We are broken, we are diminished,
We are old, we are traumatized
We are incomplete, we are disfigured
We are young, we are crippled
But
We are not incapable of waging war again
We are not incapable of the hellish task
We are not incapable of the bloody campaign
We are the Old Guard
We are the Veteran
We are Legion
We are the survivors
We are
I, too, am one of the Old Guard. This gave me chills. This made me proud.
Society's tendency to discard anyone who "does not fit in" expertly described and dealt with.
Impressive and well done.
I have been through 3 deployments and now getting out to be lost in a world I don't understand anymore, I read this and I just cried. Bless you battle. Even though it seems we are invisible at times at least we will alway see each other
for your poem and your service. Veterans are not invisible to everyone. My father was a vet, and I have respect and gratitude for you all.