The Story Behind "Tell Me, Please"

9 September 2010 was the third anniversary of the death of a fallen hero. Through this project, I have had the opportunity of getting to know his Gold Star Mom and through her, him. Almost all that day (if not actually all day) I kept thinking, "I really want to write a poem for her.", but nothing would come except the never ending phrase, "Please, tell me about him." This is what always goes through my mind when I think of our fallen heroes because they are not numbers to me, they are real people and I want to know who they are.

That night, I left a comment on her facebook wall and then thought about what I could write in a poem. Again, the phrase mentioned above rang out. I finally gave up and decided I would just start typing and hopefully there would be a few things typed that would be worth keeping. I figured, I would type and go back to edit it accordingly. As far as I can remember, the only editing I ended up doing at the end was to add an extra space between each passage.

I later shared the poem with this Gold Star Mom and explained that she inspired it, but it was really for all Gold Star Moms.

Tell Me, Please

Tell me about him, please
I’d really like to know

Did he smile as he said, “I told you so”
Did he love life
Did he dance
Was he into sports
Did he love family and friends

Who was this man who gave his all
When he answered freedom’s call

Was he a kid or was he a man
Or was he maybe a mixture of both
Did he love to laugh and tell jokes
Was he always there to lift you up

Tell me about him, please
I’d really like to know

Did he play with kids
Was he gentle and kind
Was he always eager to cheer you up
Did he like music
Was he a fan of parties

Who was this man who gave his all
When he answered freedom’s call

Victoria Beth Roberts
September 9, 2010