Do you cringe with pain as I do
Feeling empathy for them
And all the while still holding back
What we too feel within?

Do you wonder at the way the tears
Come rushing like a flood
To the eyes of aging soldiers
Now remembering the blood

Of buddies lost while over there
And wounded ones sent home
--A place no longer home to them
They were each in hell alone

And do you wonder why it took
So long for them to come
To be here with their fallen kin
Where they could come undone?

Why is their grief so raw and strong
So many years gone by?
I think it is because of how
They’ve kept it all inside

How many years were they denied
The healing they must need
Their memories of pain and loss
Lay dormant like a seed

A nation wished to know them not
Respect was seldom shown
And they were robbed, our valiant ones
Of the feelings that they owned

Until at last when now they meet
They’re brothers, sisters all
They grace us with their pain and tears
Here at the soldiers’ Wall

They touch the names of those they’ve missed
Their agonies emerge
And they hold on to each other
While strong emotions surge

They need each other -- we need them!
And all of us need Grace
To bear the grief so long delayed
To offer our embrace

They are our brothers too, I see
And sisters, we have shunned
They served with valor in the war
But here they were outgunned

So if you wonder why they weep
Those warriors who’ve hung on
Remember theirs is pent up grief
They’ve held it in too long

So now let’s show them that we care
As now they come to weep
The tears that will bring healing
And let’s all their vigils keep

And nevermore leave them alone
But rather hold them tight
Within our arms, as in our hearts
At last let’s treat them right