Young at Heart

I would like to tell you about my friend, inspiration, and hero Tomas Young www.bodyofwar.com

Tomas arrived in Iraq in late March of 2004, almost exactly one year after the war officially began and ten months after President Bush had declared, "Mission Accomplished." On April 4, he was sent on his first mission to Sadr City. While riding with fellow soldiers in an unarmored Humvee with no canvas covering, he was shot just above his left collarbone. He later described it as "shooting fish in a barrel." He was instantly paralyzed. In his very brief tour of duty, he had not fired a single shot.

As he slowly came back to consciousness and his new life paralyzed from the chest down, Tomas began to question the entire premise of the Iraq war. As he lay in his hospital bed watching the near constant reports of those killed and wounded, the war didn't make any sense to him. What did Iraq have to do with the attacks of 9-11 or Islamic terrorists? If there were no weapons of mass destruction, what was the U.S. still doing in Iraq? He knew that everyday young men just like himself were dying and being severely wounded, Iraqis and Americans. And to what purpose?

This poem is dedicated to a true Soldier of Peace, a man after my own heart, Tomas Young.

Young at heart and strong in will
with a restless spirit they cannot kill.

Your struggle is a symbol of the pain that we all feel,
your sacrifice a testament to prove that Love is real.

The fire in your soul burns through the wounds of war
to remind us of the mindlessness of what we're fighting for.

A hero with no mask because he doesn't need to hide,
a warrior of Truth shining his Light so far and wide.

Speaking Peace from a pedestal without a hint of fear,
telling all the world exactly what they need to hear.

We believe that we will see an end to all this hate,
if we stand together we can create our own fate.