Johnny Olson

Things are getting out of control. The black hole hold these dark souls have upon this Nation is alarmingly disheartening and certainly sickening.

I sit in shock as I watch the headlines crawl by. Sound bites I’d expect on a cheap MTV2 reality show come flowing from the pork chop jowls of the fat cats appointed to destroy these Divided States. To think that these ignorant, arrogant sociopaths are the one calling the shots for this Country in the midst of so many pots of catastrophe simmering on our collective stove tops sickens me. Disheartens me. Breaks me.

I’ve grown disillusioned with my own homeland. The same land I wore the Corps uniform and willingly went to war for. We’re a fucking embarrassment. A regular laughing stock. Open your fucking eyes… before it’s too late. In case you need a reference on what too late looks like, it’s a spitting image of today’s top stories:

Police brutalities
I-can’t-breathe
Crumbling icecaps
Dying oceans
Extreme hurricanes
Drinkable water shortages
Allied Genocide
Endangered species
Floating island of garbage
Mass murderer shootings…

This is not a National problem. This is a Global problem. This is not the time to let these fat-cat short-sighted fools and money-grubbing cronies steer us clear into oblivion. This is the time to wake the fuck up, remember what this Country, OUR Country, is all about. But instead we make it an internal tribal war of us vs. them and we are imploding on a global scale.

Each generation thinks it’s the last. Except for the last generation who knows that it is. I gotta hunch it just might be us. Maybe it’s the fatalist in me but it seems all the signposts point thataway. Maybe I’m being a pessimist although I think I’m more of a realist. Maybe I’m just a paranoid GenXer who was born with the fear of nuclear nightmares. Or maybe I’m just right but hoping I’m just wrong.

I read the news today. Oh boy. I’m not surprised any longer by the shit show this country has turned into. I try to stay neutral, seeing both sides of the proverbial politics coin. But in this polarized land, it’s hard to stay in the gray middle. I really try but I’m finding myself picking a side and battling, baffled by those who oppose my own points of view. Too much tribalism happening inside of what was once one tribe has left us divided.

Abraham Lincoln once said: “A house divided against itself cannot stand” I watch in sad awe as we the people quickly begin to crumble and fall.

(view the YouTube video here)

But he did return.

He arrived in a box with a star spangled​
and blood striped flag, draped with care.

When Johnny didn’t come marching home again (so long, so long)
They gave him a funeral welcome then (so long, so long)…

​A warrior’s funeral.​
​Complete with a 21 gun salute,
​a lonesome rendition of ​
Taps, and a
​finely folded​
consolation flag.
The same flag that came draped on Johnny’s ​coffin.

The boys held back tears, the men stood tall,
The ladies, one by one they called​…​

They mentioned Johnny’s name on the news.
They remembered his life and honored his memory.
They said they would always remember their hometown hero.
They all felt the loss

when Johnny didn’t come marching home.

Johnny didn’t enlist to be a cog in the great war machine.
​But he knew the ultimate price
​might have to be paid
when he raised his right hand and said:

“I, Johnny Citizen, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

When his Country called, he did his duty.
With a lump in his throat and with pride on his side,
Johnny went off to ​fight.

Let reverence and remembrance reign this day (so long, so long)
Remember the ultimate sacrifices made (so long, so long)…​

He prayed.
​​
He prayed every day he awoke alive,
and doubly so at night,
to live to fight another day​, so help him God.

God was there on Johnny’s lips as he took his final breaths.
​So were the fading memories of home.
So were mom and dad.
So were brother and sister.
So were friends and lovers.

And so was this final scene –

​A warrior’s funeral.​
​Complete with a 21 gun salute,
​a lonesome rendition of ​
Taps, and a
​finely folded​
consolation flag.

This is what Johnny saw as he looked up
at foreign skies.
​
He never asked why.
He knew this was his time.
​He knew this was his duty.
Johnny said his last prayer
and his final goodbyes.
​No fanfare, no fame.
Just another life given,
a sacrifice made
in ​this deadly game
named ​
freedom.​

So may we do our patriotic part (so long, so long)
Be grateful and thankful for this warrior’s heart (so long, so long)…

And remember the meaning of this day,

When all the Johnny’s didn’t come marching home.

That’s the true spirit of this day and one I strive to maintain and attempt to attain day-by-day. I truly try to freely give a sincere attitude of gratitude at every predawn morn I’m blessed to receive. I pray it, every day, knowing that everything I have, have had and will have is gifted and never a given.

The cognizance of blessings alone begets holier appreciations of what I do have. I know that someday I may not have all that I do. I may have more. I may have less. But right here, right now I have everything I need and daily I pray for and give thanks for…

A roof over my head to keep the heat in & my head dry on cold & damp gray days, to keep me cool and chilled on hot & humid summer days, sheltered and secured always.

These clothes that cover my mortal flesh & bones, sometimes fashionable, most time not, but what I got is usually sensible, always practical, definitely comfortable.

The food on my table to sustain the life force swirling in me and our fellow man that gives us animation, free will, and divine imaginations.

The labors we trade to get paid so that we can afford these aforementioned hierarchical necessities needed to live another hour, day, month, year.

A deep love in my heart for this precious gift called life and deep reverence for all who have come and gone & for those here and now, the nearest and cherished loved ones coloring my world thru these many moons so fine & divinely.

This deep-seated peace in my soul, my hearth, a source of retreat, of meditation, of experience, of expression.

I pray every day for these precious things to hopefully guarantee I do not take them for granted.

I pray knowing that even if it’s just me listening in, the reverence I have for these everyday blessings will always bring a deep-seated appreciation of these spiritual, material, creative, monetary & wellness prosperities.

I pray, with all my might to say the two simple words that, when sincerely paired, carry so much meaning and emotion:

Thank—You