Why Have I Been Forgotten?

Why have I been forgotten?

It is my daughter's fith birthday.

Yet another I will miss.

I sent a letter in the mail but I can only hope she gets it.

My wife has told me that she asks every night,

"Is daddy coming home? I really want to meet him!"

Maybe someday, she too will stop asking of me.

I'm so far from home.

It's no wonder I've been forgotten.

Why have I been forgotten?

I never did want to be a soldier.

Yet there I was at age 18,

fighting an unpopular war in a dark jungle.

My boyhood was stripped from me as I shot that man.

I kill him over again every night.

I returned home not a hero but the villain.

I've been turned away from every job and tossed to the curb.

How could I be just used and forgotten?

Why have I been forgotten?

My mother told me the military wasn't for women.

Now everyday I tie my hair up in a bun and lace up my combat boots.

I do everything my brothers do during training.

I must!

To prove myself and to prove my team.

They say, "You aren't cut out for the military."

I say, "The military isn't cut out for me."

So then why have I been forgotten?

Why have I been forgotten?

The government has declared me a hero.

For my heart is now purple.

I gave up my own leg to save my brother.

They say I was brave.

But I know they would have done the same.

I am a hero who has fought.

But I still have to fight for my rights.

I guess that all heroes are forgotten.

Why have I been forgotten?

My life was planned out so perfectly.

No one could predict the terror that struck our country.

Yes I volunteered.

I volunteered for you.

I volunteered for this country's future.

I volunteered to give my life.

And so I did.

Why have I been forgotten?