The Veteran's Hat

I saw him in the coffee shop,
Sitting all alone,
Just staring into space,
In some far out distant zone.
He was an older veteran,
From the second World War,
Which I was able to determine,
By the veteran's hat he wore;
Then in came another fella,
With a boy who called him "Pop,"
This fella wore a baseball cap,
With "Viet Nam" stitched on top.
It was a busy little place,
The door opened but a crack,
As a young man with no legs,
Had a hat that spelled "Iraq,"
The little boy jumped off his seat,
To let this young man in,
He may not have had legs,
But he had the nicest grin.
He sat down to have his donut,
And a coffee nice and warm,
He was joined by a young man,
Whose hat said "Desert Storm,"
They were chatting and I heard,
The one say, "Gee, it's good to see ya!"
As a gray-haired man appeared,
With a vet's hat that said "Korea,"
For me, it was a special day,
I was in true angels’ company,
With all these different Veterans,
Who served to keep us free,
I got up and thanked each one of them,
Then with my coffee I relaxed,
And thanked God that I knew
who they were,
Because they wore their Veterans' hats.

~Margie Rieske