{"id":676,"date":"2026-06-30T18:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/?p=676"},"modified":"2026-06-30T19:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T23:08:12","slug":"a-veterans-last-wish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/2026\/06\/30\/a-veterans-last-wish\/","title":{"rendered":"A Veteran&#8217;s Last Wish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By Reppard A. Andrews<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>As they lower me into my grave, let not a tear be shed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I fought to keep my country free, and now my Lord, I\u2019m going to see. For just my body\u2019s dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As they fold the flag and fire the shots, let no emotions show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stand firm and brave, beside my grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And listen as the bugle blows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weep not for me as you walk away, turn not for one last look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the haunting strain of Taps remain,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Press a kiss upon your holy book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The spades will softly turn the soil, as I wing away with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The diggers will refill the pit,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>until signs of death retract from it, and replace the torn sod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As years go by and memories fade, my stone shall stand erect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the rest, who gave their best,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our freedom to protect.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text-justify mb-2\" >By Reppard A. Andrews As they lower me into my grave, let not a tear be shed. I fought to keep my country free, and now my Lord, I\u2019m going to see. For just my body\u2019s dead. As they fold the flag and fire the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":678,"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676\/revisions\/678"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pccsar.org\/pennsylvania-gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}