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Adams and his poem honoring the service of all veterans.
Poem honors all who serve
By Alan Rusch
Last Updated: November 17, 2009
Take one look at the Wilson home owned by retired U.S. Army Sgt. Howard Adams Jr. and his wife, Sandy, and it's clear that the Army, patriotism and love of country hold special places in Adam's heart.
“If they called me up today, I'd be gone in six hours," Howard said. “I'd pack all my gear up, put it in the truck, and go to Fort Riley or wherever they wanted me to report. I told my wife that I could find another state and I could find another family, but I'll be darned if I'll find another country to defend. There is not going to be another United States — I'm here to support our troops anyway I can."
A veteran of Operation Desert Storm, Adams attached a simple 4' X 8' sign to the north side of his red, white and blue-colored garage in 2007. A battlefield grave marker consisting of an inverted M-16 rifle and combat boots topped by a soldier's helmet along with a flag pole from which Old Glory flies proudly and silently in the breeze completes Adams' solemn and dignified tribute to the service and sacrifice of American military men and women — past, present and future.
Yet it is the words of a poem called “Sacrifice," which Adams wrote on the sign, that seem to tug the hardest at the heart.
“I wanted to put the sign out there for everyone to see," Adams said. “I've had a lot of people drive by and say it is nice and that it's about time someone did that."
Even a delivery man from the Salina Journal reacted emotionally to the poem.
“He had tears in his eyes," Adams said. “He called me up and said it was the greatest thing he has seen in a long time."
He wrote the poem in 1991, in response to those who opposed Operation Desert Storm, the removal of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's invasion forces from Kuwait. At the time, Adams was a soldier transporting fuel and ammunition while deployed with the Service Battery, 41st Field Artillery, U.S. Army Third Infantry Division. The poem was written as he waited for his unit's equipment to be unloaded at a seaside dock in Saudi Arabia.
“We were dog-faced soldiers — the Rock of the Marne," Adams said proudly.
Asked for his thoughts on Veteran's Day, Adams said we must remember not only those who have worn the uniforms of our country in the past, but the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen who are currently deployed overseas and in harms way as well as those who will serve in the future.
“Soldiers aren't involved in politics, that's for the higher-ups," he said. “A soldier goes where he or she is told and, hopefully, comes home in one piece. Our prayers go out to them and to their families."
Adams said America's military men and women need to hear the voices of support for them and their missions.
“It has to do with what they are really there for," he said. “They signed a note to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies — foreign and domestic. Regardless of whether it's on foreign soil or on our soil, they are doing what gives us the right right now to sit here and talk about it."
The Poem, "Sacrifice"
These are my feelings I cannot ignore.
While you sit on a peaceful shore and protest the war.
Whether in the United States wide and grand, or in a desert of a foreign land.
We are soldiers and we're proud to take this stand.
We are proud to do our patriotic chore, even on this foreign shore.
There is nothing a soldier hates more than a conflict or a war. Yet, for our country, we'll pay rhe price. Our lives we'll gladly sacrifice.
Yes, for you this we're willing to do. Whether it's wrong or right, the soldier pays the greatest price.
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