Collar Of Honor Poem by Lauren Meredith Gould

-no i have my original ones that i got when i first joined
-how did you get it them first place? did someone just give them to you?
-well your drill sergeant gives them to you when you first get to basic
training when you get them its like our initiation so they mean alot to me

he was a young man
full of pride
but he went to the land
where many men died

it was iraq
the man was hopefull
but there was an attack
and it wasn't so dull

it was very unsuspected
but the young man knew
he was like an experienced detective
it was his 50 caliber that he flew too

but he was too late
the wiseman fell
this was his fate
he collapsed with a yell

another soldier came
and at the dog tags he glazed
this young man shall have fame
because of courage, the soldier was amazed.

the soldier then had a flashback
the day he got his collar of honor
it was with his brothers, the pack
they were the operation, the core.

it was when they all first joined
when they went to basic training
it was initiation, like they became combined
it wasn't just slaying it was almost taming.

these aren't just dog tags or names
these are collars of honor
they're one of a kind, not all the same
they aren't boys for much longer

they become men, they become pride
they become idols, they become symbols
they become their country that never dies
and its their legacy that always flows.