Thirteen still flags

Draped over thirteen boxes cold

Carrying thirteen still hearts

That once bore souls of gold.

A rumbling steel tomb

Bears them through the sky;

The solemn warrior sentries

Weeps through watchful eye.

Throughout his vigil he considers

The kind of life he’s led;

Ponders the cold truth that he

Could’ve been among the dead.

Children made to grow too soon

Chosen to stand with their brothers;

Killed while saving innocent lives,

Deaths price paid for the sins of others.

The sentry thinks of the families,

Hearts torn by dreaded call

That’s gives new meaning to the phrase:

“All gave some; some gave all.”

Fallen warriors slain in

The closing salvo of their father’s war.

A bitter reminder that when you give,

Still yet is expected more.

But that’s the life they life, the path they swear,

The debt they choose to pay;

We can only pray we rise as well,

When we are called one day.

So rest easy noble fallen,

You have no cause for fear;

Your sacrifice carries us day to day,

We have the watch from here.