The Soldiers of Paler Earth

Exercise Desert Rock I Public Domain

Eleven thousand nameless souls
Lost in desert, dead patrols;
Bravery unmatched by all but none
Pierced through fire of man-made sun

Zero-set countdown,
Hot hail of Gomorrah;
A six mile death,
The atom-spent aura

Pillars of fire to shake the skies,
Tragedy befallen their ill-spent lives;
The peace of thousands stolen away,
By thunder of war and greed of day

A mutual victim circumstance
Born by fate, they led no chance;
Helmets on, worn boots to strap
Atomic booms, poor soldier’s trap

Buster-Jangled out the door,
Sanity driven, an even score;
Heaven wept, her tears ignored

Paler Earth as naught before