Anyone know where to find long military poems?

Question

I've got an assaignment in my English class, and it has to be a poem that when read, has to last three minutes. Therefore, I am looking for a fairly long poem. I would love to find a poem on the military, Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, Battle of Normandy(June 6, 1944) or the Battle of the Bulge December 16, 1944. Any one of these poems would be awsome to do. I've looked on the web forever and I'm quite tired of looking-I'm getting no results.

Answer 1

The following poem may not be long enough for you, but it is special to me.

Trees

(With a parachutist’s apologies to Joyce Kilmer)

I think that I shall never see
A drop zone ugly as a tree.
A tree turned to the sky all day,
Who lifts her hungry arms for prey.
A tree whose jagged limbs oft pressed
Against a jumper’s bleeding breast.

A tree who may in summer wear
A mess of troopers in her hair.
Upon whose bosom they have lain
And infinitely screamed with pain.
Jumps are made by fools like me
But only God can miss a tree.

(Author Unknown

And the following:

A Soldier Died Today


He was getting old and paunchy, and his hair was falling fast;
He sat around the Legion Hall, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he once fought in, and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.

And though sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer, for old John has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary, very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family, going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing. though a soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing, and proclaim how they were great.
Papers tell their life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
Some jerk who breaks his promise, and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow, who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country and offers up his life?

The politician's stipend, and the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal, and perhaps a pension, small.

It was not the politicians, their compromises and their ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our country still enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger with your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some politician with his ever waffling stand,

Or would you want a soldier, his home, his country, and his kin,
Just a common soldier, who'd fight for freedom until the very end?
He was just a common soldier, and his ranks are growing too thin,
But his presence should remind us, we may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least give him homage at the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline in the paper that might say,
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Answer 2

Anything ny Brendan Behan should suffice.