Three Thousand
By Steven Bates 1 Sept 2023
September 11th, Two Thousand and One
My day as a missile cop had barely begun
The TV was on for background content
When it flashed on the news where the first plane had went
Then plane number two, and plane number three
Plane number four met their destiny
I'll never forget that day in the field
watching in horror as three thousand were killed
War had prepared me for Battlefield loss
The nature of which hangs like some albatross
Round the neck of a veteran, it's his cross to bear
His burden alone, a pain not to share
But when three thousand die in the name of revenge
It just makes one angry, it just makes one cringe
It makes me remember that freedom's a thing
That no other country to the table can bring
And I remember the flags out the very next day
Our Patriot feeling they didn't take 'way
It surged in our hearts, it burned in our souls
It ached for each one of the three thousand holes
The graves that were dug in the following year
Had every American shedding a tear
The death toll was brutal, the losses were tragic
But revitalized our spirit like some kind of magic
We stood as Americans against all who oppose
And when the flag flew high we all stood and rose
For after three thousand losses, we just couldn't see
Insulting America by taking a knee
Or burning the symbol of a Nation in mourning
At the loss of three thousand that one Tuesday morning
It seems we've forgotten the loss that we felt
When September 11th hit us low of the belt
But for two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven
I'll never forget when they went to Heaven
Add nineteen terrorists, yes, they died as well
But my heart believes that went to Hell
But nevertheless, three thousand are dead
In an image I'll never get out of my head
Too many have forgotten the lives that were lost
Too many have forgotten what freedom can cost
So this Patriot's Day, I'll stand, never kneel
each moment of silence in my heart I will feel
I'll remember the towers, great icons of steel
And remember three thousand that cowards did kill