Under the ocean, the earth gave a few groans;
In a blink Japan suffered, lost families and homes.
Stark slabs of cement marked where a village should be;
Now nothing was left; all claimed by the sea.
The world looked disbelieving at the damage been done;
Not knowing that the battle for some just begun.
In a facility backed by safeties one, two and three;
The game was now changed by the might of the sea.
Everything failed, even systems most reliant;
Awakening into the world, a fiery nuclear giant.
It couldn’t happen; no, they’d done everything right;
And yet there it was, the glow growing in the night.
While the rest of the world watched a tsunami unleashed;
Engineers worked frantically to contain the freed beast.
The radiation was climbing to levels untold;
But men stayed and fought, the Few – the Bold
They did what they must, their eyes open wide;
They confronted the beast, but not out of pride.
It was their duty, their job, to step up to this plate;
This was their beast; this battle, their fate.
One texted his wife, “Live your life well;
I’ll be here a while.” Then he turned to face hell.
Every moment of stay, chopped years from a life;
He fought in the dark. He fought for his wife.
The price, it is high, but so are the stakes;
The very demon of hell is rattling their gates.
Only much later, the battle hours old;
Did the world learn about them; the Few – the Bold.
There were fifty in all, each life chose to give;
To fight and to die so that others may live.
To them they were only, doing that which must be done;
All had suffered loss in the land o’ rising sun.
They fought on for days; they fought through the nights;
They fought the hot beast; they fought the fight of all fights.
They fought in the dark, knowing they might never see home;
And as the world watched in awe, fifty fought on alone
Wearing protective suits, they fought with one goal;
But in spite of precautions, the radiation took its toll.
Their death might come slow, or it may be mercifully fast;
But when it does come, fifty flags then fly, each at half mast.
The outcome unclear as this story is told;
But now is the time to remember the Few – the Bold
A world stands united in thought and in prayer;
Letting the fifty know they’re not along – we know that they’re there.
Songs will be sung and our memories will be kind;
To the great ones that lead the way, for those left behind.
Yes, we're left behind by men, that will never grow old;
Left behind by our heroes, the Few – the Bold.
