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The Soldiers Who Never Came Home
Soldiers go to fight our wars. Many die, but we don't remember them. Unless they did something stupidly brave. Even then, their names escape us. Those men on D-Day who held the flag only one of them lived. Only one soldier came home after watching his brothers shot down. Do you know their names? Or the men in the Vietnam War? Or how about the World Wars? Or even the most recent war in Iraq? We celebrate Veteran's Day, but what about the soldiers who never got the chance to be veterans? Don't get me wrong, veterans are important, but we forget those who don't come home. We forget those who never touch American soil again, or when they do, they're in a casket draped in an American flag, forgotten by the people thus died for. We forget the families who lost a son, a brother, a friend. We foget the soldiers who never came home. So here's to those soldiers. Here's to the families. Here's to the forgotten soldiers that never came home.
I wrote this story based on a painting I saw in an art gallery. It had a single soldier standing beside a casket with a fallen soldier and an American flag draped over it. My dad was also military. And he went to Iraq when I was five. I hope that people will remember not only the veterans but the families and those who didn't love to be veterans. Or those who just died protecting us. Not doing something heroic. Because what's more heroic than dying for the people in your country?