LCDR Bob Prinselaar
U.S. Coast Guard

LCDR Bob Prinselaar U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.)

Writings of LCDR R.J. Prinselaar
U. S. Coast Guard (Ret)

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TAPS

Each box was covered with a flag all lined up in a row
They looked so very elegant in the early morning glow
The skipper had some words to say and the chaplain spoke some too
The rest of us stood silently as we honored those dead few
Then the haunting notes of Taps were heard as sweet as a baby's sigh
A shudder ran thru every man as we said our last goodby

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Independence Day

Independence Day, or the fourth of July
what is the name to me
Independence Day, is a special day
with lots of meaning for me
The fourth of July is another thing
it is just another day
While the fourth of July may come and go
Our Independence is here to stay
Our independence was won, by iron willed men
who had nothing special to gain
They fought for their freedom, and that of their sons
they fought through hardship and pain
Valley Forge was a winter they had to endure
and many men died of the cold
But the ones that survived were harder than steel
an Army of the brave and the bold
Cornwallis at Yorktown finally surrendered
and our Army could call itself free
So I’ll never forget, our Independence
and those men who got it for me
More than 200 years, we’re still independent
and more men have died for the cause
Freedom is paid for, it never was free
each man is a terrible loss
So I look at my flag with all of its stars
and the 13 stripes to the side
I stand at attention and snap a salute
and I’m filled with a wonderful pride

LCDR Bob Prinselaar Independence Day,1997

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Memorial Day

One day a year we stop to think of all the ones we've lost
We never stop to realize just what the wars have cost
We have parades,and wave some flags and think of wars gone by
We stand in graveyards with the rest and we may even cry
The bugle sounds as Taps is played then the honor guards salute
Another day has come and gone and the bugle now is mute
The little flags will wave again in just another year
We'll think back like we did before and shed another tear
How many more will bleed and die and then lie here so still
Not telling of the pain they had upon some distant hill
We must remember all year long not just a single day
We must remember through the year not just Memorial day

LCDR Bob Prinselaar Memorial Day 1997

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Medals

Don't envy a man his medals All those ribbons his chest
He did not try to get them They are not there at his request
They were earned in stinking hellholes Where no man would like to go
Or in cold and wintery places Where there is only ice and snow
He didn't know he earned them Till they were awarded at parade
And they were bright when he first got them But in time the colors fade
He was told he had to wear them And to wear them all with pride
But when the memories come to haunt him Those same medals make him hide
Cause those medals will not bring back All those guys he left behind
And he would trade them all forever For a little peace of mind
So don't envy a man his medals You don't want to take his place
Thinking back to long gone battles And meeting dead friends face to face

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APRIL 19

A peaceful people unaware of other people filled wih hate
and the things those others dare
A peaceful people filled with pain of things they saw
and things they felt of things that were insane
Small children bloody carried down
their bodies torn and futures gone
what happened? in this town
Oh God please help me understand
How could this be, explain to me
what happened? to my land

Bob Prinselaar

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