The Loss of Innocent People - A Poem for Memorial Day, By Greta Kinsey, 6th Grade

By Greta Kinsey, US Navy Dependent

The children bid good-bye
To their father on this day
He boards a plane to the war
Where it’s all work and no play

The letters that are passed
Back and forth in the mail
Are reassuring and happy
The kids know their dad won’t fail

Father time drags his feet
The air is filled with wishes
Of the father coming home
With a package of hugs and kisses

Suspense is in the air
Until one month is left
There’s a sigh of relief
From all the hope they’ve kept

With only three weeks left
What cannot happen does
The father cannot come back
And there is connection loss in love

The family weeps and cries
For mornings, days and nights
The accident is dreadful
Like someone turned out the light

The sadness is a heavy burden
No smiles show for several years
Frowns are shown to everything
And the nights are always filled with tears

Still, the family needs support
This family that's so fine
They'll forever and always be
Strong, after all this time

Written as a gift to the family of a fallen service member. Memorial Day 2010

Making Friends, By John Murphy, Age 10

I make friends all the time. But I am in a military community and my friends have to move away a lot because their parents are in the military. Sometimes I have friends that can stay for awhile, but they eventually have to go. Having friends in a military community is interesting sometimes because everyone is from a different place. You can learn about many places because your friends tell you. Sometimes making friends is hard because everyone is moving around. The people who I want to be friends with usually move very quickly and I cannot be friends with them. I still have many friends that probably will not move for a long time, but I also have friends that have to leave soon. I make new friends everywhere on the island in parks, school, and other places. I also make friends with Japanese kids on the island. I make many friends at school because there are many kids there. Making friends is fun. You can play more if you have more friends.

Sometimes having your friends move can be tough. I have had many friends move and it was hard to say good-bye. One good thing about having friends in a military community is that many new people come, so I can make many new friends. I have many friends that have left, but they may come back. I will be very happy when they come back. Once I had a friend that left and I did not even know! It made me very sad when I found out. I made a friend once and we were friends since kindergarten and we are still friends now.

Another time, I had a friend and we were friends for less than a month before he had to move. I also had other friends that stayed here for a short time before leaving and friends that may stay here for a long time. One of the best parts about living in a military community is that you make many new friends even if they do not stay here for a very long time.

If you have a lot of friends, you will not be bored all the time because you will have a lot of friends to play with. Okinawa is the perfect place to make friends because there are so many places to play. You can play in the parks, school, and other places.

Sometimes making friends is hard because you do not know if everyone will be friends with you. But most of the time, it is easy because everyone is friendly. Most people that come here stay for two or three years, so I can be friends with them for a while before they have to leave. I wish they did not have to leave because I would be sad if they did leave.

The friends I have are very good friends. Having friends leave is a bad part about living in a military community. It is very hard to say good-bye because you may never see that person again. I have had friends that have left and I will probably never see again. I also have friends that will stay here for a very long time. So I may get many new friends, but my old friends may have to leave. Right now I have a lot of friends and most of them will not leave soon. I do not know when they will leave, but I am sure it is not soon. Now, not too many of my friends are leaving the island.

I am still very sad about a lot of my friends leaving to different parts of the world, but I am happy that I can make new friends all the time. I have made many new friends this year. I have also lost a couple of friends this year. I made the most friends in first grade because it was a new school and a lot of other people were new, too. In second grade, I make a couple of friends because a lot of people in that school were not new to that school and I did not know anybody. Making friends in a military community can be hard or easy, but overall it is easy and fun even if some of your friends have to leave sometimes.