{"id":99563,"date":"2018-05-25T15:05:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T21:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/remember-me-veteran-bob-harms-commemorates-the-memorial-day-holiday-in-verse\/"},"modified":"2018-05-25T15:05:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T21:05:41","slug":"remember-me-veteran-bob-harms-commemorates-the-memorial-day-holiday-in-verse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/remember-me-veteran-bob-harms-commemorates-the-memorial-day-holiday-in-verse\/","title":{"rendered":"Remember Me: Veteran Bob Harms commemorates the Memorial Day holiday in verse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shaun
Shaun Stanley\/Durango Herald \u2013 John Jarrett, Chaplian at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 reflected in the Veterans Memorial at Greenmont Cemetery Monday during Memorial Day Services in 2016.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Except in 2008 when, despite the calendar, another holiday was on his mind. The result was a Memorial Day ode to the fictional Corporal Allen Stall, a single soldier who represents all of the fallen military heroes of our nation\u2019s battles.<\/p>\n

We printed the poem last year, as a letter to the editor, and Harms was gratified to hear that the poem was shared and read at several local Memorial Day gatherings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did I write it the way I did?\u201d said Harms, himself an Army veteran. \u201cI guess I just wanted to startle people a bit. It makes me angry that people don\u2019t understand what it took, what Memorial Day means. We forget, though it is something we should remember every dadgum year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harms is right. And in honor of Corporal Stall \u2013 and all his comrades \u2013 we are proud to publish the poem again on its 10-year anniversary.<\/p>\n

Remember Me<\/p>\n

Have you noticed how most holidays of late have lost their original intent?<\/p>\n

We take the day off, have a grand old time, but neglect to observe what they meant.<\/p>\n

Of course we all know Christmas is just one of those days of which I do speak,<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s Memorial Day that I wish to explore; it\u2019s this day\u2019s true value I seek.<\/p>\n

I am Corporal Allen Stall; I am all those you will never know,<\/p>\n

I am those who lived and died far away, because I went where others did not go.<\/p>\n

Yes, you can call me corporal, but that really isn\u2019t quite true,<\/p>\n

I am all those who gave all that they could; I am the one who did pay what was due.<\/p>\n

I am the guy who doesn\u2019t live next door; I am the one who will never pass by,<\/p>\n

I am the one the whole world has forgot; I am the one that no one saw die.<\/p>\n

I am the reason you can sleep every night while holding that special one near,<\/p>\n

I am the one who has given you that peace to enjoy \u201cthe now and the here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you imagine what went through my head when I knew it was the end of \u201cmy day?\u201d<\/p>\n

Not the pain as I fell, not the light that grew dim, but the \u201cgoodbyes\u201d I never would say.<\/p>\n

Together as one, the thousands of us who answered that proverbial call,<\/p>\n

Gave you the blessings you now so enjoy: your family, your life, this spring and last fall.<\/p>\n

What is it then that I expect of you? The answer is not all that deep,<\/p>\n

Not sorrow, not sympathy, not anger or hate, just a few promises I ask you to keep.<\/p>\n

Each day you must laugh as I would have laughed; each day a heart try to mend,<\/p>\n

Your life you must live in wonder and joy, with awe from beginning to end.<\/p>\n

You must go to the places where I would have gone; see the glory as the sun starts to wake,<\/p>\n

Taste the foods; take a chance; feel the wind on your face, and all for this soldier\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n

Hug the kids I never had, sing the songs I never heard, touch a heart that I never knew,<\/p>\n

Be my life if you would, my soul, ears and eyes; be my voice that is known to so few.<\/p>\n

When that spring day rolls around, while \u201cOld Glory\u201d stands proud and all your memories start to awaken,<\/p>\n

Pause more than a minute to remember why all those lives were so early taken.<\/p>\n

What you have was not free; I just hope that you see; it\u2019s a gift I wish I had too,<\/p>\n

I\u2019d do it all again for that peace you enjoy. Just remember, my \u201cmight have beens\u201d all live in you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stanley\/Durango Herald \u2013 John Jarrett, Chaplian at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 reflected in the Veterans Memorial at Greenmont Cemetery Monday during Memorial Day Services in 2016.du1-i-syn Except in 2008 when, despite the calendar, another holiday was on his mind. The result was a Memorial Day ode to the fictional Corporal Allen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5821,5819],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-99563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-opinion","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99563"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=99563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}