The Call The call rang out across the land I was barely eighteen No longer a boy, but not yet a man I was somewhere in-between They said I was needed by Uncle Sam It was for Freedom I was to fight In a strange and distant place, called Vietnam It was my duty, an honor, a right When I arrived "in country" I was considered green But a man you'd make of me I'd learn to fight, learn to survive And return home to my family But things they never seem to go The way we have them planned So as I lay hurt, my friends lay dying I fell into enemy hands The years have come and gone And still I am their guest I remember hearing my brothers went home God, I wish them all the best I came here when my country called It was for Freedom I was to fight I was barely eighteen on that day I turned forty-eight tonight Each night I say a silent prayer Hands clasped and on my knees Hoping the country that I love so dear Hasn't forgotten about me By: Eddie Luffman

The Military Man They came from all across the land, to fight the war in Vietnam. These special men of pride so true, Military men, serving the Red, White and Blue. Through the jungles and fields they fought, many returned, some did not. They didn't ask the how or why, they went to fight and many died. When coming home to the land they loved, they were scorned and cursed, pushed and shoved. They were met with anger for what they'd done, called vile names, and spit upon. They saw their flag, which held their dreams, ripped and torn, even sewed on jeans. They were very confused, these Military men, serving a country, that turned it's back on them. The fight continued, the war not gone, not in Vietnam, but Washington. They fought for those who died, not to have been in vain, but to be remembered, all fifty thousand names. The fight was long, many years in all, the reward came, in a black granite wall. On the wall, there inscribed, are the names of the Military men, that died. Now once again outside our shore, we hear the sound of our men at war. They fight in air, sea and field. an operation, code named, Desert Shield. They fight to keep and preserve world peace, in a battleground called the Middle East. It's not for the money, or the glory they fight, it's for what they feel is just and right. If prayers are answered, and hopes come true, your Military men, soon, will return to you. Their welcome home can be reward or pain, will you spit on them, call them names? Or will you pat their back and shake their hand, show pride for them, show you understand. Show them the reward they see so rare, simply show them, that you care. They fight for peace, and freedom of your land, the Pride of America, the Military Man. By: Eddie Luffman

Our Missing Heroes They went to war So full of pride They never came back We don't know if they died They were left Were never reclaimed To this day The Government is to blame They left their families Their homes and friends To fight a war That for them never ends They were taken away By the enemy it seems From then on being rescued Was in their hopes and dreams Still they wait As years and years go by Waiting to be freed They lay awake and cry Minutes turn into weeks Weeks turn into years The progress they see is zero They are our missing heroes By: Aimee Luffman