By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2021

First published in the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Spring 2022 Edition

Dedicated to the late Senator, Bob Dole

“A war hero and among the greatest of the Greatest Generation.” President Joseph Biden

Among the most distinguished
of our greatest generation
in war and peace, he faithfully
did serve our grateful nation;

Grievously injured by German fire
rescuing a downed radioman,
he bore the scope of this sacrifice
throughout his entire lifespan;

Hauled by brothers in arms
unconscious to a foxhole overnight,
injected with morphine to die pain-free,
paralyzed, depleted of life’s light,
he overcame all odds,
battling for life from that dark day,
both arms irreparably injured
by fire and mortar in the fray;

After more than 3 years of recovery,
his doctor dreams impossible to fulfill,
this poor farm boy from Kansas,
learned how to draft a bill;

Urged to run in Kansas,
he was first elected to its House,
full of honor and integrity,
living the principles he did espouse;

First elected to the Senate
in tumultuous 1968,
with Nixon and Ford he became
a political heavyweight;

His work for the disabled,
veterans, children and the poor,
endeared this man to Americans
from our heartland to each shore;

Working tirelessly to make
the WWII Memorial come true,
there he greeted countless veterans
with compassion we all knew;

Full of insightful humor,
a man of many quips,
you took his word for bond,
once spoken from his lips;

A lion of the Senate,
patriot in war and peace,
from lifelong, faithful service,
his soul did God release.