Photo....China Beach, Vietnam

IMAGES OF FREEDOM 

By Diana Waite

Shortly after high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in April 1962 and went through boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. I loved it! From there I went to Camp Pendleton, California; and was that ever an experience for a small-town, southern girl who grew up in the Smoky Mountains. Since that time, I've traveled halfway around the world. I did go back to school and received my Masters Degree, majoring in Management. Twenty-seven-and-a-half years as a federal employee include many different jobs and locations. Half of these came about through travel connected to the military -- like, four moves in six years. The best was the four years spent in Germany where my former husband was stationed with the Air Force. I now live in a small town in New Hampshire, but I am a transplanted southerner. I have worked in Boston, Massachusetts, as a Contracting Officer with General Services Administration, Federal Supply Service, for the past nine years. For me, the old saying "Once a Marine - Always a Marine" is true. I'm still as "gung ho" now as I was then. The military has always had my support, especially our disabled veterans who have given so much for their country. I am a real history buff and have a particular interest in the Civil War. I enjoy traveling the many battlefield sites which, thankfully, have been preserved. I have dabbled in writing poetry since my teenage years. A few are published in anthologies, but I write mostly for my own pleasure and self-therapy. My daughter, Donna, recently moved to North Carolina; and all the rest of my family reside in the South. When I retire, in approximately two-and-a-half years, I will probably follow and return home after forty years. I wasn't able to serve in Vietnam but that doesn't mean my heart didn't
go. Diana Waite 

The starkness of a silhouette 
upon a field of black,
The image of one who fought for us
but did not make it back. P.O.W./M.I.A.
we all know the names,
Prisoner of War/Missing in Action
is their claim to fame. We must never forget these lost souls
nor the price they paid so dear,
Hold them close in your heart forever --
year after year. When you see the Stars and Stripes
blowing in the wind,
Say your thanks and your prayers
for each one of them. We may not have known them --
someone's father, brother, son,
But with each life given
someone's family is missing one. Stand at the great black wall,
read the names and count the cost,
Our precious freedom gained
for the many lives lost. Freedom we take for granted
with no thought of our own,
For the P.O.W./M.I.A.
who may never come home. 

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