True Blue
Today a cold dead body was laid to rest,
In its new home in that garden of stone.
It might have been a father, a mother, a son, a daughter,
A brother, a sister, a husband, a wife, a friend.
Only the friends and family can tell,
For the body will never speak another word.
The family gathers around the gravesite,
Finding strength in each other.
The Honor Guard in its finest,
While uniformed comrades stand neatly in a row.
A lone trumpeter stands on a nearby hill,
While the haunting notes of Taps echoes thru and thru.
First one shot, then two and three,
Every eye is moist, weeping in sorrow.
The bagpipers play the hymn Amazing Grace,
As the body is lowered to its final resting place in the garden of stone.
To whom did this body one belong,
A Senator, a President, a soldier?
It was a soldier, a soldier on America's streets,
He wore a badge, a gun, a radio and a vest.
He dealt with the pushers, the beaters, the scum of the earth,
But he also helped the addicts, the victims, and the families.
He treated all fairly and with respect,
It was hard, but it was his job.
He suffered many pains from his job,
He drank, he smoked, he yelled and screamed.
His family, they didn't fully understand,
They knew his job was tough, but that didn't explain it all.
His wife had worried lately, worried about his safety,
She sat by the scanner night after night.
He cried at home in her arms after the tragedy,
When a drunken driver took the lives of a family.
He ranted and raved at the injustice,
When a rapist was set free to walk the streets.
Til one night when he stopped a car full of teenagers,
The car had been reported stolen, taken for a joyride.
He approached the car and spoke to the driver,
Suggested that the kid drive the car back home to his parents.
The kid agreed and his buddy called out to the officer,
When he looked, he saw a blinding flash.
He never heard a sound, he was dead before he hit the ground,
His partner returned fire, his aim was true.
A teenager, bleeding, high on more than life,
Lay there dying next to the cop whose life he had taken.
This soldier will say no goodbye to his family,
He will tell no one that he loved them before he leaves.
Today a family grieves and friends mourn,
An American street soldier was killed in action.
Today a Police Officer was laid to rest,
Today a hero was given honors and buried.
He is gone, may he nor his deeds be forgotten,
Another True Blue hero now resides in the garden of stone.
Written by Derek "Fester" Boutwell
Southern Shores Police Chief "Thad" Pledger
No one knows why he chose to take his own life, and while many continue to start terrible rumors, those of us who knew him know that while the reasons are unknown, they are not the evil ones people want you to believe. God Speed Thad.
