The wind was fierce this autumn day
I certainly didn't want to go... but felt obligated...
He was an old cranky man...
I barely knew him... I knew his family...
I'm looking West straight into this wind...
Standing here... leaves blowing around...
Whats left of a cornfield in the distance...
I would say one - two acres at best...
It's an 15 minute drive to the nearest 4 corner town
The trees behind me have lined this road for 100 years...
Certain to have leaned into this wind many time before...
My dress pants flapping...
A husband, a father, a brother, an uncle, a grandfather
I can barely hear...
I'd heard some of the stories before...
I never reflected on him... After all he was just an old man...
The group huddling closer the longer the ceremony goes on..
The color guard standing on each side...
A fierce grip on the corners of the flag...
In the past... I'd shook his hand in politeness... Never more...
Present Arms!!!
7 shots ring out...
Aim!!
7 Shots ring out..
Aim!!
7 clicks.. dead fire...
The the story boldly snaps in my mind
This old man... Once was stringing communication lines...
The battle raging around him...
The splinters I heard him complain still in his arms
The Battle of the Bulge was what is was later named...
How they had run out of ammunition at one point...
In this moment... This cold gray day... This old man...