Ascend to Victory

He never thought he’d be an American hero
He was just an average guy.
It wasn’t in his plan to join, to fight, to die.
But duty called and rallied him
To leave it all behind, his job, his wife, his family life.
He travelled towards the sun
In the early years of the war
When the fighting had just begun.

His tour of duty passed slowly.
He learned war is ugly.
He saw things he couldn’t ever imagine.
He had stories that one day would need to be told.
He dreamed through the months
of the day he would go home.
To the country and family he loved
Is where his mind would most often roam.

Our soldier learned quickly
That it wasn’t what he thought it would be,
Fighting with the 172nd Mountain Infantry
And living by its motto: “Ascend To Victory”

Steadfast friends were made, forged on the battlefield during their tour.
A “Band of Brothers” that can only be made in war.
He fought by their side each and every day
And watched many get injured and several “blown away”.
A soldier’s plight is to fight, not to question why.
Why some who fought with him, had to fall and die.
His angst was more than anybody would ever know,
With each and every death, it took one more piece of his soul.
 
It was a split-second decision, made without hesitation
To put himself in harm’s way, and save the life of his friend.
In an instant his death made him a hero and his wife a widow.
She can do nothing but cry, as she tries to make sense of it all.
Left with a child alone, every night she falls into bed,
Pulls the covers over her head and dreams that her hero has come home
But when she wakes, crying a tear, she finds herself still alone.
 
Our American Heroes, we have a duty to them all.
Freedom has a dreadful price.
We can’t let them be vanquished into the darkness of the night.
Let us always remember them, and by them do what is right.

Our soldier learned quickly
That it wasn’t what he thought it would be,
Fighting with the 172nd Mountain Infantry
And living by its motto: “Ascend To Victory”