Grey templed men
Survivors
Of wars and battles and campaigns
Fought in places
Whose names are forgotten
Except by those
Who nearly died there.

Baseball caps
Embroidered with names
Of ships,
Of campaigns,
Of armies,
Remembered, truly remembered
Only by the men,
Once boys,
Wearing them.

We applaud
While they quietly,
Stoically
Shed tears
For forgotten friends,
Forgotten by all
Except those
Who lost them.