This was written for a friend.  He and his best friend, Mike, fought side by side.   On the day Mike
was killed, they had tossed a dime to see who got which side of the fox hole they shared.  Don
lived, Mike died.  When I asked him if I could share his poem, because I had written it just for him,
he said it was a good idea because he was not the only  one this happened to.  The poem has
no title.
Cheryl Huston

I finally found the courage to walk up to The Wall,
And when I found your name, my tears began to fall.

In my mind I drifted to another place and time,
When our futures were decided by the tossing of a dime.

In my mind I fight again the battle where you died,
And I felt again the anguish and the pain I’ve tried to hide.

If the coin had landed differently would the end have been the same?
Or would you be here instead of me, crying, as you touch my name?

A thousand times I’ve tossed the coin and fought that battle in my head,
But it always ends the same, my friend, you walk among the dead.

But your memory is safe with me, tucked away with the guilt and pain,
And here in this Hallowed place my tear drops fall like rain.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to ask the question, “Why?”
Why did I come back alive?  And why did you have to die?

So I want to say, “I’m sorry”, but the words are hard to find,
To tell you you’ll live forever, in my heart and in my mind.

I’d trade you places if I could, and I would have at that time,
But who would have thought our futures rested on a dime?