Marv Levy Shares Poem Dedicated to WWII Veterans

When their playing days end or their coaching careers are over, many retirees head to the golf course, travel the globe or check off items that have gone undone amid the busyness of professional football that consumes nearly all free time.

Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy began writing. Books for adults. Books for kids. Books of poetry.

As Veterans Day 2020 approaches, Coach Levy — himself a post-high school enlistee in the Army Air Forces during World War II — submitted to the Hall this poem he wrote, dedicated to fellow veterans of that global conflict. It is reprinted here with his permission.

I'LL REMEMBER THOSE DAYS

World War II was over. At last it was done.
Oh, how we celebrated. Was it ever fun.
Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines
In our spiffy dress uniforms flooded the scenes.

Pretty girls wearing gloves and cute little hats,
In high-heeled shoes rather than flats,
Welcomed us now wherever we'd go
On the streets, or in bars, or at the USO.

And when the band played, "Little Brown Jug,"
We'd laugh, and we'd flirt, and we'd jitterbug.
Never since then have we heard anyone sing
Like Sinatra, Dino, Ella, and Bing.

We were young, optimistic, and full of zest.
We were up for all challenges, for any test.
College days and so much more
Beckoned us now, and into it we tore.

And when those days on campus came to an end,
Onward we moved towards the road's next bend.
Then we got married to that girl we adored,
Got a job, and bought a house we could barely afford.

With children, with families, with friends, with delight
We kept surging forward with all of our might.
But the years kept passing, and then one day
I noticed that my hair was turning gray.

So what if I was a few years older?
I just ignored it like the pain in my shoulder.
I kept right on enjoying the world that we'd saved
From those tyrants so evil and depraved.

But now, faster and faster the years fly by,
And many of my dear pals have said, "Goodbye."
And even if today's world now considers us old,
They should have seen us when we were young and bold.

Fewer than a million of us now still march along,
But I'll remember us all, sixteen million strong.
I'll remember us all as World War II buddies,
Not as some out-of-date fuddy-duddies.

I'll remember that time when we went off to war,
And then returned to a world that was better than before.
I'll remember all those with whom I served,
"The Greatest Generation”? A title deserved.

Marv Levy
Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2001