Gold Star Mother Poem by Charles Hancock

Today, Indiana sadly buried one of its own
A young man killed in a foreign combat zone
A kid really, he was only nineteen
He had always wanted to be a Marine

Just two summers ago he won a ribbon at the fair
For his Charolais bull that he called Pierre
He left for basic training a week after graduation
A captain read aloud his Purple Heart citation

For mortal wounds received from a roadside bomb
Then the internment flag was presented to his mom
She'd give up the rest of her days just to hold her Jim
But the military refused her request to see him

A miracle baby, he was their one and only son
She didn't have him until she was forty-one
Her husband died when Jim was just nine
When a sleepy trucker crossed the center line

The rifle team fired and the bugler played
Her preacher spoke and the visitors prayed
For Indiana's newest gold star mother
Everyone hopes there will never be another