To Control And Hold Back The Tears Poem by Frank Pulver

Not many Americans really know what goes on,
And why when we get home so many of us veterans have in common,
Even though a lot of our memories are not the same,
We still have the same feelings as we lost our buddies and still can remember them name by name.
It all starts as we go out and go on patrol,
We pray to come back in one piece, which is our goal.
And yes, this is something that everyone prays for,
Because we see so much that hurts our hearts more and more.
To see our buddies get thrown and blown around,
Some are hurt and some just wounded, but others are heaven bound.
Coming back home is something that we all have to deal with and it is very hard,
Especially as we see our friends being buried in a National Cemetery grave yard.
To think that we will always remember these things as we get older and go through the years,
It's hard for us not to think about it and hold back the tears.
Some of us come with deep echoes and ringing sounds in our mind,
This causes us to lose control and to keep our way of thinking in a bind.
It is really hard for a lot of people to understand what it feels like to come back,
And to always feel like you are under attack.
Yes, this time of pain and is hard to control.
with help from the Lord and our family, we try to calm our soul.
As the time goes on and more and more of us are coming back and being diagnosed,
It finally helps us come out of our deep and wanting to be alone, and comatose.
Thank you to everyone that wants to try to understand what it feels like for us to go through and see what we see.
Because in our lives, it is finally here to show us that there is someone who cares for them and for me.

By Frank Pulver

SSgt/ USMCR