Shrouded in the Red,White and Blue ~A Poetry Please Single word Challenge~

 Image Gettysburg by Maryann Corrigan 2007

Shrouded in the Red, White and Blue
In honor of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps
By: Maryann Corrigan

At first glance into Lt.
Colonel Michael Strobl’s mind
you would think he volunteered perhaps out of guilt.

In the end you realize just like many others along the way,
that he had helped bind in dignity the sacrifice of another.


During the journey to the final resting place
he witnessed immense respect being shared
for his fellow brother in arms.

This duty and his honor were the finest gifts he could give.


The quality of one's life simply cannot be measured in volume.

This young Marine made the most of his days here on earth.


The female military person at Dover AFB
took the bloodied hand and
held it gently in her own hand,
as she washed and brushed beneath his nails.


Their hands now palm to palm
the lines connecting
as their lives path intersected.


His body was immaculate
when she was through bathing him.

Just as all of his personal possessions
had been steam cleaned and rendered spotless.


The journey began and
at each destination along the way,
Americans paid tribute
to this fallen Marine.


The Colonel glanced out of the plane window as
the apricot morning sun rose between the hazy clouds.

Knowing that this young man would never
feel it spread across his cheeks again.


The Colonel slept beside the casket at points along the way,
he verified the contents at every stop, he was Chance’s witness.

Towards the end of the story the Colonel said,
“I felt that as long as he was still moving
that he was somehow still alive.
”*

Maryann Corrigan © Copyright 03.03.
09
This poem was inspired by a true story and movie.

*Direct quote from Taking Chance an HBO movie about Lance Corporal Chance Phelps