How Soon They Forget! Poem by Stephen Walshe

This poem is dedicated to all the members of the RAF of WW2(my father included) for their sacrifice so we could live and complain as we do.
1
Our innocent youth was used and lost
To fight for Freedoms Cause
Whatever the cost;
The friends we made so fast
Some to fade
Some to last;
To live or die
Was but a pause;
How soon they forget!
2
Winged chariots rusted and bent
No use for modern fray
Engines silent
Their power spent
No more the shout “ Contact - chocks away; “
How soon they forget!
3
Hero’s of the past; our tales we tell
In the fading Autumn of our years
We re-live the scream and yell;
But who listens to the tears
Of an old mans laughs and fears
Who remembers what we lost;
How soon they forget!
4
Once a year old friends assemble
The numbers they grow light
They; Do not understand
The tears that distort our sight
When we hear the “Merlin “ rumble
Or see the “ Hurri “ or “Spit “ in flight
They say “Silly old man to fret”;
How soon they forget!
5
The Winter Years to us call;
Like Autumn leaves old friends and comrades fall
Year by year we Famous Few
Give up our fight and fly to pastures new
There are some to mourn us; yet
How soon they forget.