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DAVE WINNETT: A POEM: “THEY OPENED THE DOOR FOR ME”
They Opened Up the Door for Me”
By David K. Winnett, Jr. Captain, USMC (Ret.)
August 25, 2010
Picking up the pieces
Of heroes gone before
Never took the time to see
They opened up the door for me
I guess I gotta know just why
They gave their all and died
Just so I could live and be free
They opened up the door for me
How can I ever repay
The debt these heroes levied on me
How can I carry this guilt
That it wasn’t me
I’m just left to wonder why
They opened up the door for me
Just where did they come from
Why did God make them the one
Why them and not me
How can I ever see
They opened up the door for me
I’ll go a lifetime wondrin why
Why them and not me
But for now I’ll just cry and pray
That they gave me one more day
How can I ever repay
The debt these heroes levied on me
How can I carry this guilt
That it wasn’t me
I’m just left here wonderin why
They opened up the door for me
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=46301
Posted by Gordon Duff on Aug 25 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under Heroes, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Gordon,
First time poster, but an avid reader and admirer of yours here for the past 3 months. I would highly recommend you and the other alert visitors here to watch “The Arrivals” at:
http://www.wakeupprojet.com
Of all the documentaries describing elements of the truth, this one is the most complete and is truly blessed. Keep up the hard work sir, your efforts are and will continue to be rewarded.
Z
Captain David, Some have good karma, some not so good. Some are owed good debts, some owe not so good. When all is said and done, the debt scales are balanced. Just grind forward brother. You are doing fine.
T.
Thanks Skipper.
If I may change a few words:
I’ll go a lifetime wonderin’ why
Why him and not me
But for now I’ll just cry and pray
That he gave me one more day
Semper Fi,
Former Marine Capt and Father of USMC Cpl
KIA Iraq.
Thank you and your son for your service. Without you surviving, Gold Star, we would not have been blessed with the presence of your son, however short his appearance on this crazy stage may have been.
T. First Cav Vet, Texas
Dear Gold Star father, No words can fully express how grateful I am for your son’s service in the defense of my freedom, nor are their words sufficient to comfort you in your loss. I am honored and deeply touched that you personalized the poem in honor of your son, your Marine. May he rest in peace and his sacrifice be the light that leads to eventual tranquility and peace among all human beings. Semper Fidelis….. Dave
Thanks Marine. SF
[...] DAVE WINNETT: A POEM: “THEY OPENED THE DOOR FOR ME” : Veterans Today [...]
[...] DAVE WINNETT: A POEM: “THEY OPENED THE DOOR FOR ME” : Veterans Today [...]
Dave, That is a beautiful and stirring poem. I am not a fellow military person, in fact I’m not even a fellow, but at the risk of sounding mushy I just want to say how really touching it is to see how much compassion exists within and between many of the military people posting here. Beyond just mutual respect there seems to be a genuine care and concern for each other. That’s really nice to see.
Miller – No risk in sounding “mushy”…not at all. Having spent 20 years of my life as a Marine I can say without any reservation whatsoever that some of the most compassionate and caring human beings I have ever encountered were United States Marines. We have a reputation of being “Hard Corps” and cold as steel; deservedly so. What you see on the exterior shell of a U.S. Marine may seem ominous, but on the inside, under certain circumstances, most of us can be quite mushy at heart;-) Semper Fi, Dave
Hello Miller, After my son was KIA in Iraq, I stood on the grinder on a cold February morning at Camp Lejuene and watched his mates disembark from the buses when they returned from their tour. My son, thankfully, was the only KIA from that unit on that deployment–and the only one not on the bus. I meet for the first time many of his brother Marines. I saw one, wounded along side my son months before, see and hold his daughter for the very first time. I later sat in small groups or individually and answered their tears, their guilts that they felt because they didn’t bring everyone home together. I assured them that all their doubts, their 20-20 hindsights, about losing their brother Marine were not binding on me. I faulted them not for I knew that all of them, some seriously wounded themselves, risked their lives to rescue my son, shot and trapped in a house that the Marines had assaulted. I witnessed something that I knew existed. Brothers in Arms don’t give a hoot about why they are ordered into combat; their love for each other–a stronger love than Man and Wife–directs them to complete their mission and protect each other. To see a Marine in uniform with waterfalls of tears coming down is a sight to behold. It is love that binds miltary people together. It is a love that doesn’t die.
DMD
Decades ago, in Vietnam…a war as useless and corrpupt as Iraq..I saw what you describe. I never cried. I had enough friends killed that I felt, once or twice, that a house had fallen on me. The point isn’t the decency of Marines….they were and always will be my family. It is the indecency of our government that murders our children..
and children around the world.
We are sending tens of thousands of decent kids, the numbers are over 2 millon by now, to war. We get them computers, play stations and food, something combat troops in Vietnam never had.
We think its enough.
We are murdering their souls with our lying.
I can no longer ask anyone to fight for the United States. I can’t find it anymore.
France is more American than we are.
g
Roger that Gordy. SF
Gold Star Father,
Your personal experience really captures the special fraternity you speak of. Our culture has become so filled with artificiality and relationships of convenience or forced obligation, it almost sounds sacred to feel a bond as deep and true as you describe. You are all so fortunate to have such a strong support system, particularly in dealing with tragic losses such as your own. I truly am sorry for the loss of your son.