In 1974, Julia Eckert-MacLean, the wife of a Korean War veteran, attended a local Cenotaph service. During the ceremony, she took note of an older man, unkempt and in ragged clothes.
The veteran’s condition gave Eckert-MacLean pause, and she began to consider how Canada cares for those who fought wars on the country’s behalf. Inspired, she wrote Open Letter To An Old Soldier.
The poem is regularly reprinted locally at this time of year, and Sudbury.com has decided to share Eckert-MacLean’s thoughtful and powerful words against this year.
Although in the poem, Eckert-MacLean says she let the veteran walk away without speaking to him, MacLean said this week his parents later visited the Salvation Army to make a donation on the soldier’s behalf.
Open Letter To An Old Soldier
I saw you in the park today
Dear, Old Soldier…proud and brave
With ragged coat and scuffed up shoes.
But…on your head
Beret of Blue!*
I saw you this Remembrance Day
In too long coat and hair of grey.
With tattered trousers,
Unkempt hair,
I saw you standing, silent there.
The Bugle sounded soft and low.
Upon your face, an inner glow.
And then it seemed I saw you shed
Those ragged garments
Shred by Shred.
And suddenly, you were once more
A soldier - Going off to war,
When you were young and gladly gave
A soldier’s heart -
So proud and brave.
I wanted so to touch your hand,
To thank you for your valiant stand.
I wanted so to speak your name
But I was shy, and yes, ashamed,
That one who’d fought the battle brave
Was now neglected, old and gray.
The “Last Post” faded fast away.
I watched you turn and walk away…
North up Minto* - past the lights,
To Salvation Army’s Harbor Light.
Where are you now
Old Soldier Brave,
Who fought…
Our Canada to save?
You who fought that I might live -
I could not then, one moment give?
But left you lost and all alone,
A hostel room to call your home.
Forgive me - Dear, Old Soldier Brave.
I stood and let you walk away -
All alone… Remembrance Day.
Forgive me that I did not say
My thanks within the park today.
I bowed my head for all who died
…Forgetting those yet still alive.
Forgive me Dear, Old Soldier Brave –
I stood - And let you - walk away.
-By Julia Eckert-MacLean, 1974
*Minto - The Street in Sudbury where Memorial Park and Cenotaph are located and where Julia first saw the “Old Soldier”, on November 11th, 1974. *The “beret of blue” is significant because it signifies that the old soldier was active in the United Nations Action in Korea, that the author’s husband, along with many other Canadians fought in, from 1950-1953.
The late Julia Eckert-MacLean, a native of Seaforth Ont., was an elementary school teacher and freelance writer in Sudbury, starting from the late 1950s. She passed away from pancreatic cancer in February, 2007.
