The soldier boy was sitting calmly underneath that tree....
As I approached it, I could see him beckoning to me....
The battle had been long and hard and lasted through the night....
And scores of figures on the ground lay still by morning’s light....
"I wonder if you’d help me please," he smiled as best he could....
"A sip of water this fine morn would surly do me good.....
We fought all day and fought all night with scarcely any rest....
A sit of water for I have a small pain in my chest"....
As I looked at him I could see the large stain on his shirt....
All reddish-brown from his warm blood mixed with Iraqi dirt....
"Not much," said he. "I count myself more lucky than the rest....
They’re all gone. I just have a small pain in my chest.....
"Must be fatigue," he weakly smiled, "I must be getting old. ....
I see the sun shining bright and yet I’m feeling cold.....
We climbed the hill two hundred strong but as we cleared the crest....
The night exploded and I felt a small pain in my chest....
"I looked around to get some aid-the only things I found....
Were big, deep craters in the earth-bodies on the ground....
I kept on firing at them. I tried to do my best....
But finally sat down with this small pain in my chest"....
"I’m grateful ma’am", he whispered, as I handed my canteen....
And smiled a smile that was, I think, the brightest I’ve seen....
"Seems silly that a man my size so full of zest....
Could find himself defeated by a small pain in his chest."....
"What would my wife be thinking of her man so strong and grown....
If she could see me sitting here, too weak to stand alone?....
Could my mother have imagined, as she held me to her breast....
That I’d be sitting HERE one day with this pain in my chest....
"Can it be getting dark so soon?" He winced up at the sun....
"It’s growing dim but I thought the day had just begun....
I think before I travel on I’ll get a little rest…......
And quietly the boy died from that small pain in his chest....
I don’t recall what happened then. I think I must have cried....
I put my arms around him and pulled him to my side....
And, as I held him to me, I could feel our wounds were pressed....
The large one in my heart and the small one in his chest....
sweetblood_1989 Community Member 
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