Dear Lord, Let Us Laugh Again

A poem about the Korean War and how my dad always liked the words to a saying dear to all Korea veterans: "Dear Lord, Let us laugh again, But never let us forget that we cried."

Dear Lord, Let us Laugh Again
A Soldier of the Korean War,
That’s who my Dad was,
There’s a saying beloved by the Veterans of the Korean War,
he always loved went like this,
“Dear Lord, Teach us to laugh again,
But never let us forget that we cried,”
My Dad cried a lot of tears in 1995,
When the Korean War Memorial was
dedicated in Washington, D.C.
We were in D.C.
but sadly, only the big shots could go to the dedication,
So my Dad and all of us and many other Korean War Veterans
went the day after and spent an afternoon at the Memorial,
19 statues with the faces of the soldiers just the way they fought in Korea,
Wearing the Ponchos, carrying the radio and the full field pack,
My Dad cried a lot of tears that day,
Talked with a lot of other fellow veterans,
Korea, the Forgotten War,
My Dad, Peter J. Mariotti
Never will be forgotten,
He will live on in our hearts forever,
Though he left this world on May 9,2011,
He is with us always in spirit,
A Soldier, A Dad, a Husband, a Friend.

Celine Rose Mariotti

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