I'm sorry soldiers,
For caring too much about ceremony and the 'Last Post'.
I'm sorry soldiers,
For forgetting the true meaning of all these parades and bugle calls.
I'm sorry soldiers,
For lying with everyone else saying 'We will remember'.
I'm sorry soldiers,
For wearing my poppy this year out of pressure, not respect.
I'm sorry soldiers,
For looking at your memorial and seeing only a piece of architecture.
I'm sorry soldiers,
For reading your names and not caring who you really are.
I'm sorry soldiers,
For thinking of you as foolish men, for obeying orders to the end.
I'm sorry soldiers,
For blaming you for your own demise.
I'm sorry soldiers,
That you had to go through such pain and difficulty only to be killed the next day.
I'm sorry soldiers,
That the rest of the world isn't.
I'm sorry soldiers,
That what you died to end never really stopped.
I'm sorry soldiers,
That I am alive through no act of bravery or skill but through luck.
I'm sorry soldiers,
That you were born at just the wrong time.

I'm sorry soldiers,
That this apology comes one hundred years too late,
But I think it's time someone said it,
So I'm sorry,
Can you ever forgive us?