He lived close to a base 
He lived there all his life
He was alone  now
Just he and his wife

He was a world war 2 veteran
Serving in Germany and Japan
He’d seen the world in the corps
Seen many a foreign land

He’d seen his brothers wiped out 
At the battle of the bulge
He himself wounded
He still held a grudge 

He came back home broken
Half the man that he was
Blasts from a German bomb
Sent him
Home where he belonged 

Took years to fight his demons off 
And by gods grace he put the bottle down
Learned to live with constant pain
And tolerate the benign combat sounds 

Raised 4 children
They were all successful in their own right
Contributed their success 
To their moms strife 

He’d been too busy drinking 
Hanging with the boys
Each  drinking and telling their own 
War time combat stories 

He stopped drinking 
The night he had to crawl home
When his beloved wife
Simply wouldn’t answer the phone 

That’s when he had his 
Come to meeting God moment
Promised God he’d lay the bottle down 
Give up his favorite token 

No-one had wanted to take him home
Because he was a belligerent drunk
His buddies had laughed and said they’d 
Only take him home in the back of a trunk 

He’d crawl home by damn
And that he did
Had calluses on his hands
 But he sobered up that night he was his only friend 

His brothers thought he’d sleep it off
Laid him on a cot
Took his wheelchair 
And locked it up

He lived a mile away
3 in the morning all was asleep
Not a taxi or car coming
He was all alone in the street 

Pulled his mangled body
With all the strength he had
After all he was a MARINE 
Once a marine always a MARINE - his oath was iron clad 

With each pull he’d say the Lord’s Prayer
Stay with me Jesus was his words 
Like you did with me at the bulge
He knew then Jesus was his savior and he cared 

With each pull and drag
It seemed as thou he got stronger
The dizziness was gone
He’d be home not much longer 

A few hours had passed by the time 
He pulled up to his house- the door unlocked 
But he was too exhausted to open it
His wife screamed when he was found 

Bloody and bruised
Yet he was alive
It’d take more than crawling  home
To make him die 

Yes he had a meeting with Jesus
On that cold night 
As he pulled his combat riddled body
To the  morning light 


Wb ksg