The Vacant Chair
As There will be one vacant chair, We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our evening prayer; When a year ago we gathered
Joy was in his mild blue eye, But a golden chord is severed
And our hopes in ruin lie.
We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our evening prayer.
At our fireside, sad and lonely, Often will the bosom swell,
At remembrance of the story, How our noble brother fell;
How he strove to bear our banner, Through the thickest of the fight,
And uphold our country's honor, In the strength of manhood's night.
True, they tell us wreaths of glory, Ever more will deck his brow,
But this soothes the anguish only, Sweeping o'er our heartstrings now.
Sleep today, Oh early fallen,, In thy green and narrow bed,
Dirges from the pine and cypress,, Mingle with the tears we shed.
We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our evening prayer.
May God Bless our Prisoners of War and Missing in Action.
May God Grant Peace, Comfort and Strength to their Families.
May God Grant Perserverance to Those Who Wait.
Advocacy & Intelligence Index
for POWs-MIAs
National POW-MIA Recognition Day September 20th, 2002