Grandpa

Sixteen million men
put on a uniform to beat back fascism
to save the Jews
the ancient people that carried a torch
a torch that saved all of us
led us all to God's revelation
of liberty
of living forever.

Every man that survived
carried stories heavier than coffins
and you never told us your stories
you carried on
after battle in Patton's 3rd Infantry
and after the blood letting of Korea
you opened a business
raised your four children
read thousands of books
played twelve instruments
and spoke at least three languages.

My father your son
who buckled under the weight of your shadow
told me that you visited Patton's grave
the man you killed for
and tears rolled down your cheeks
after you said
"There's the old man."
Without men like you
the light of liberty in the world
might have been pinched out
like a candle's wick
between Nazi fingers.

Then you went to Korea
as a Master Sergeant
and used your barbarism
all over again
20 years in the Army
who knows how many you killed
you never talked about Korea either
just
"That was a real war."

You married a German woman
because I don't think you could share your heart
with someone who had never been bombed
You built a beautiful home for her
a block away from the beach
in Central California
Los Osos - The Bears

By the time I met you
you drank gin
smiled freely
golfed incessantly
had medals on the wall in a case
you were invincible at Scrabble
and called me "Pal"
because you probably thought
I was a wispy little sensitive child
which I was
I barely knew you

Your shadow is long
your legacy is the legacy of this nation
of empire and violence and prosperity
of liberty and of loving beautiful babes
It's a legacy of hiding our feelings
carrying secrets and always taking action
I wish I had known you better
I wish you told us stories of liberating the Jews
Because I love a Jew
the granddaughter of a holocaust survivor
I think you would have really liked that
because your courage
made that possible
and right now I can't get that out of my mind
how the ideas of America are worth killing for
and how you did kill
and never told us about it
you just wanted to watch us
live and love in the world
you helped save.

You were such a man
that Grandma never got her driver's license
she never felt it was necessary
with an American warrior artist
as her husband.

I want to be more like you Grandpa.