You were once my soldier boy,

And I, your pretty girl.

We sent each other letters;

We were happy in the world.

You became my soldier man,

And I became your queen.

Then we went to places

We had never, ever seen. 

Marrying my soldier meant

Our dreams were coming true.

Promises of love declared

Were shared by me and you.

Battle after battling,

We built ourselves a home.

Sometimes friends, and sometimes foes; 

But never on our own.

In our castle, children lived;

It seemed we’d won the war;

With Jesus in the middle,

And our God to guard the door.

The battle was not over;

Cancer took us by surprise, 

And we know in every war 

That a soldier always dies. 

Your life was filled with honors,

And you deserve the best;

Arlington is special, and

Where you’ve been laid to rest.

Seven soldiers, in the spring,

In formation in the sun:

Each stood in his uniform,

And each shot off his gun.

In that moment, I was dazed,

But when the count was done,

With bullet shells collected,

I now have twenty-one. 

The bugler rang out Taps;

It was so beautiful to hear. 

The sniffing tears around me

Snuck their way into my ear. 

Then they folded up the flag, 

And struggling to stand; 

I felt your love and strength when

It was placed onto my hand.

I miss you, beloved soldier,

But I feel you in the air

I see you in the sunset;

Red, and blazing high up there. 

On earth we lost a soldier, 

The world’s worse for the wear.

But in Heaven, angels sing,

For my soldier’s living there!

The scars we bear are stories

About strength and love and pain. 

I know I’ll see my hero;

Soldier, one day, once again. 

By Angela Royse Pelleman ©️2025

Related works of interest:

Poetry: Your Broken Body is Beautiful to Me …Easter Poem (Dave’s Testimony)

Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Dave’s Testimony)

We’ll Never Have Paris (Anniversary Poem)

Merry Christmas to My Husband in Heaven

Let Me Be a Firework to Get a Glimpse of You… (A July 4th Poem of Grief and Hope)

FRUIT… Dave’s First Father’s Day in Heaven

GIANTS… a Battle Psalm ( 2 Year Anniversary of My Husband’s Death. Dave Pelleman Lives in Heaven)

Green Eyes (Dave’s Eulogy… poem at the very end)

Boys at War (A Welcome Home Poem for Memorial Day)

Additional:

Dave’s Testimony 2022: Our Entire Year of Terminal Cancer, Strength Through Jesus, and Trusting in God’s Healing Miracles… A Mini Book