When the Last World War II
Veteran Passes Away
_Lower the flag, men!
The last great one has passed.
_Take care of Old Glory,
Set her down at half-mast.
_As boys they grew up
In the Dustbowl’s great heat.
_The Depression taught them
How to make short ends meet.
_Their families survived
Earning nickels and dimes.
_They learned early on
Not to squander their time.
_They were the men
Who defended this land
_By demolishing Hitler
And bringing down Old Japan.
_These were the ones
Who stormed Normandy’s shore
_And sacrificed all
To win that great war.
_And after the battles,
The darkness and blood,
_They came home to their families,
Served their own neighborhoods.
_They had given so much
On those fields overseas
_They could not let their homeland
Grow tired or weak.
_So at American Legions
Or Elks Clubs and Lodges
_They set up scholarships,
Passed on cultural knowledge.
_God, family, and country
Was their lifelong creed.
_Self came last on the list
Before others in need.
_This man and his comrades
Built up this fine nation.
_They’ve earned more than a slogan,
This Greatest Generation.
_We can cry at the coffins,
We can weep at the graves,
_Admire the monuments,
And thank God as we pray.
_But what honors these heroes
More than statues or walls,
_Is calloused hands and pure hearts
That won’t let this land fall.
_Our freedom is priceless,
By them it was won.
_So lower Old Glory,
The last great one is gone.
N. S. Boone is the author of Understanding Jorie Graham (U of South Carolina P), and his own book of poems, Biblical Proportions (Kelsay Books). He teaches English at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, and preaches for the Magness Church of Christ.
We’ve all heard of the Greatest Generation, and usually think of their soldiering as their glory. This poem places the glory squarely within men who labored for lifetimes, building up civilization in many ways. A worthy reflection in verse!
Thank you, Ms. Coats. I wrote an earlier version of this poem for my great uncle’s funeral in 2020. He was the epitome of that Greatest Generation–patriotic to the core, but much of his energies focused on the local community.
This is a great tribute to the “Greatest Generation.”
Thank you, Mr. Peterson.
I particularly enjoyed this poem for how it placed The Greatest Generation within an historical framework from the hardships of the Great Depression and to the present, as the last ‘Great Ones’ bid farewell.
From the photo of Omaha Beach, just imagine the fear, the resignation, the bravery that moment before the ramp went down must have encapsulated, perhaps punctuated by the rat-a-tat of bullets hitting the landing craft.
Thank you, Mr. Freeman. I had nothing to do with the photograph, but I’m glad it was selected to go along with the poem.