To Thomas R. Grover, killed in action in Vietnam, and to many years of history.
Aye, tear her tattered remnants down!
Long have they stood on high,
And many an eye was glad to see
Her profile in the sky.
Within were heard a family’s prayers,
A hero’s borning cry;
But now she is beyond our cares,
And we have said “Good-bye.”
The walls that rang with farmer’s tread
To wrecking ball now yield;
No more, the smell of baking bread
For workers in the field;
No more, a Christmas morning’s luck
And happy children kneeled;
The vultures of the town have plucked
This Eagle without shield.
’Twas better that her stalwart frame
Had stood for many years,
A symbol of our country’s pride,
Our nation’s hopes and fears;
Flown from the peak her hero’s flag,
Revered her honored tale,
And given to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!
— John Church, with apologies to Oliver Wendell Holmes
