The Uknown Soldier

As part of a continuing professional military education program, Air Force members are required to complete certain courses during certain time frames. Ones a member has become a Senior Airman (E-4), he can not be promoted to Staff Sargeant (E-5) until he/she completes Airman Leadership School (ALS). I took this course in November of 2002. Each class had to design, plan, research, and perform a presentation at the graduation ceremony/dinner, which had commanders and first sargeants from every students squadron as well as other distinguished peopl which very upon availability.

my class decided as a group that we would do a presentaion about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We sat down and discussed what it was that we wanted to do, show, and demonstrate. We decided on a slide show, a recreation of the "changing of the guard" ceremony that is actually done at the Tomb in Arlington National Cemetery, and a speech that gave information on the Tomb itself, it's purpose, the bodies that were placed inside the Tomb, and what the Tomb actually represented. One person in the class designed a short slide show and we used music from the "We Were Soldiers" movie as a backdrop for the slide show, a group of several other students did the guard changing, and finally, the speech, which included a narration of the guard changing, was broken into four parts in an effort to get more students involved in the actual presentation. I enjoy writing and I had a personal feeling of conection to the subject, so I volunteered to write the speech. I did the research and came up with a rough draft, which the class as a whole went over and made notes for revising and shortening, after which I rewrote it. When we were all done, I had the sudden urge to write a poem as inspiration hit me strongly. I wrote the poem down, and it was added to the presentation as the closing. Here is that poem, which I hope you enjoy.

In Remeberance Of The Unknown Soldier

By: Robert Jeffrey

Their country called,

Their time had come,

They shouldered their packs,

And they grabbed their guns.

Where they come from,

Is everywhere,

All walks of life,

They didn't care.

They did their jobs,

They stood their ground,

They fought with fury,

As devestation rained down.

With their futures unknown,

And their time uncertain,

They fitfully slept,

With nightmares for curtains.

When the dust settled,

And the smoke had cleared,

Their lives were paid,

But our freedom's secured.

As we look back,

At the battles gone by,

We rememberthe price we paid,

Ans ask, "Was it to high?"

If we ask that of those,

Who remain nameless this day,

Thay'll tell us that nothing,

Was too much to pay.

So remember the many,

Who are dead and gone,

For in their deaths,

Our lives can move on.