Last formation

Fall in…

One more time.

One spot stays empty,

but somehow it don’t feel that way tonight.

Boots hit the pavement, morning breaking slow,

Same old formation, but there’s one less shadow.

We still look over like you’re standing in your place,

Still hear your laugh, still picture your face.

Your name gets spoken like you never really left,

Carried in our stories, carried in our chest.

Dog tags and memories, photographs we keep,

Brothers don’t disappear just because they sleep.

And when the guidon moves in that early morning wind,

For a second it feels like you’re right here again.

This is your Last Formation,

One final call across the line.

Your name echoes through the silence,

Then disappears into the sky.

You may be gone from the roster,

But you’ll never leave our side.

As long as one of us remembers,

Brother, you’re still standing in line.

We remember field nights, jokes when times got rough,

Days we wanted out, but somehow stayed tough.

Remember all the smoke, the rain, the freezing cold,

Every stupid story that’ll never get old.

Sometimes I swear I feel you riding in the truck,

Like, “Quit complaining, brother, tighten the hell up.”

And I laugh through the hurt, wipe my eyes before they see,

’Cause losing you changed something deep inside of me.

So when they call your name

and no answer comes back,

We’ll answer in our hearts,

’cause brothers don’t fade like that.

No medal, no folded flag

could ever tell it all,

About the man behind the uniform

who answered every call.

This is your Last Formation,

But it ain’t our last goodbye.

You’re in every mile we travel,

Every star above at night.

You may be gone from the roster,

But your memory still survives.

Until we form up together

On the other side…

One empty place.

A thousand memories.

Formation dismissed…

But you’ll always be one of us.