Daddy, Why?

by

Cpt Jeff Reichardt

Daddy, I don’t understand why.

Why it is you have to go away?

Please help me understand.

Why are you leaving? I’m too young to “be a man.”

Mommy and me, we need you here.

When you’re gone, there’s so much to fear.

The boogey man and the kids at school

They tell me you are wrong and I’m a fool.

They say you are wrong to be “over there.”

They say it’s for greed or foolish pride.

They say you’re a killer, that you rape and you maim.

They don’t know the words freedom or is it disdain?

I don’t understand Daddy, help me see clear.

Why are you there instead of right here?

Is it because you don’t love us? Please tell me why!

Could we do something different, we’re willing to try.

My son, my precious son, let me try to explain.

Those people you worry about are truly quite lame.

They think that the cliché “Freedom isn’t free,”

Wasn’t meant to apply to them, just you and me.

My son, my precious son, I need you to be strong

I serve my country, so you and your mother can carry on

Each person in this country needs to understand,

We, who serve, do so because we love this land.

If that makes me wrong, I’m sorry I’m not cool.

But trust me son, when I tell you, you aren’t a fool.

This war’s not about pride or greed, of these I couldn’t give a damn

I’m here, like those before me, to free my fellow man.

I fight beside my comrades, my brothers, who’ve given their all

So others here can speak their piece, because freedom is for all.

I love you all more than you’ll ever know, but you need to understand

There’s more to life than home and hearth, you’ll know this when you’re a man.

You ask me if there is something different you could do

I only ask you honor those, who serve this country as I do

For if it happens that I don’t return, keep this in your mind

When you walk our streets in freedom it was a gift of mine.

Daddy, I understand now, why it is you have to go away

I understand why you are leaving. I’m too young, but I’ll “be a man.”