SupahStah, wrote this poem tonight. He's given me permission to publish it. All rights to this work, in part or in it's entirety, remain solely the author's.

UNTITLED - 11 pm, Nov 11/07

The soldier sat
Badgered, Bloodied, Bruised, Broken...
Physically.
But not mentally.
The enemy tortured him for hours,
But the soldier sat
Silent as a stone.
Except...
When asked any question,
That might give away the position
Of his regiment, batallion or platoon,
He simply answered,
Brown
Corporal
Five-Six-Three-Oh-Seven-Nine.

The soldier sat
Busted, Bleeding, Battered, Broken...
Physically.
But not spiritually.
The enemy had pistol whipped him,
And broken his nose.
He stripped the soldier of his uniform,
And burnt him with lit cigarettes.
And the soldier screamed,
As he knew the pain he felt
Would never compare to how he'd die inside
If he sold out his Corpsmen.
So he screamed, but nothing more,
And spit in the enemy's face.

The soldier lay
Aching, Agonized, Atrophied, Almost...
Dead.
But not yet.
The enemy had thrown him to the floor in anger,
And proceeded to kick him in the ribs
With those high leather boots.
But the soldier emitted nought but a grunt
As his ribs broke.
When the enemy grew frustrated
With the soldier's willpower to keep his mouth shut,
He stood him up and backhanded him across the cheek
And the soldier laughed.

The soldier kneeled
Solemn, Suffering, ShellShocked, Sour...
But only on the outside.
Now the soldier was terrified,
No longer the model of courage and bravery,
As his hands rested upon his head,
In the surrender position.
On his left was a Private,
To his right, a Gunner,
And behind him...
The enemy with a sidearm.

The soldier's mind raced,
As he thought of his home,
His mother, his brother, his sister,
His wife...
His Lord. He prayed hard and fast,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
I'm coming, welcome me, forgive me for my sins...
The officer spoke,
"Sie können abfeuern, wenn bereit".
Their language, So harsh.
His wife... he loved her. More than life itself.
He would always watch over her.
Beginning now. He knew
He'd helped to keep her free.

And Corporal Brown died with a bullet in his head.

Lest we forget,
Those that died for the freedoms and rights
Of the civilians of today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

Thank you.

~ A.M.