Dreamers
Soldiers are citizens of death’s grey land,
Drawing no dividend from time’s to-morrows.
In the great hour of destiny they stand,
Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows.
Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win
Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives.
Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin
They think of firelit homes, clean beds and wives.
I see them in foul dug-outs, gnawed by rats,
And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain,
Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats,
And mocked by hopeless longing to regain
Bank-holidays, and picture shows, and spats,
And going to the office in the train.
by Siegfried Sassoon, Selected Poems (1968)
Another Memorial Day, another year. In 2012, I was living in Washington DC and made the effort to travel to the Mall to see the Rolling Thunder demonstration. It was called Rolling Thunder because it consisted of thousands of motorcycles riding from the Pentagon into DC down to the Vietnam Memorial. Their main mission was to bring awareness and accountability for POW’s and MIA’s and was heavily attended by Vietnam veterans. In 2012, it was the 25th Anniversary of the event so larger than usual. In 2020, they re-named it Rolling to Remember in order to pass the torch to a younger generation and to bring attention to the veteran suicide issue as well as POW’s and MIA’s. During the pandemic, it shrank considerably but is now back in full force. The ride starts Sunday at noon in the Pentagon parking lot. I’m sorry to miss it.