Private Andy Andrews

He’s just a stooped old man to some.
To the ravages of age he slowly succumbs.
Death is coming to the generation he belongs to.
To me he is a hero, still brave and strong.

He is the only one still living today
of five Andrews brothers who went away
to Europe to help right a terrible wrong.
To me he is a hero, still brave and strong.

All returned to their home in Tennessee,
these young men who fought bravely.
Although he is not remembered in folk song,
to me he is a hero, still brave and strong.

On a beach in a far-off place called Normandy,
he was in the third wave that came from the sea.
He received Purple Hearts as battles raged on.
To me he is a hero, still brave and strong.

Four times he was to be made a sergeant,
rank given away as recovery time he spent.
In the hospital he felt he did not belong.
To me he is a hero, still brave and strong.

He’s just a stooped old man to some.
To the ravages of age he slowly succumbs.
Death is coming to the generation he belongs to.
To me he is a hero, still brave and strong.

_____________________________

Lou Marin is a writer, photographer, and historian for The American Legion, Department of Maine. Born and raised in western Maine, he spent more than 20 years in the United States Air Force. He is a published poet and short story writer whose work for The Havok Journal is largely poetry and reflective writing on military service, remembrance, and faith. He is also a stringer for Maine Trust for Local News, the author of Dimly Seen Through the Mists and My Lighthouse in Troubled Times, and a resident of Rumford, Maine. He can be reached at mbsphotog@yahoo.com or his Facebook Page.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.