By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2024
First published in WestWard Quarterly (Fall Issue, October 2025)
Suddenly it struck me
on a Zoom call this Friday
while we were discussing
working on Veteran’s Day;
Noting we were open
for the coming holiday,
we asked whether the bank
would be working on Monday.
The loan officer paused,
then said staff would be away,
but that he planned to work —
to prevent losing a day —
since it would only be…
a “minor holiday.”
I thought of our veterans
who have fought in foreign wars
risking all for freedom
through battle-hardened tours —
the myriad soldiers,
who have received Purple Hearts,
fighting for our country,
standing tall, gritty, stalwart —
heroic volunteers
and those drafted into war,
whose stories of valor
are now written into lore —
and those of their brothers
who never made it back,
leaving some, who survived,
with searing pain that wracks.
Is it too much to honor
those who risked all in war,
with one day to recall
all that they were fighting for?