The Vacant Chair

In 1862, Henry Washburn and George Root wrote The Vacant Chair  in memory of the soldiers who had died up till then in the Civil War, as their families gathered for the recently established holiday of Thanksgiving.  As we gather with friends and families this Thanksgiving, let us remember the families who will gather with a vacant chair – 4429 as a result of Iraq, and 1324 as a result of Afghanistan. 

We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our evening prayer;
When a year ago we gathered
Joy was in his mild blue eye,
But a golden chord is severed
And our hopes in ruin lie.

Chorus
We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our evening prayer.