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November 11, 2010

Freedom isn't free...


I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze;
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform,
So young, so tall, so proud;
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought... how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves
No, Freedom is not Free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still;
I listened to the bugler play,
And felt a sudden chill;

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend;

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands.
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No. Freedom is not Free!

- Kelly Strong

12 comments:

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

No it isn't free. Great post Nickie.

sig94 said...

If it's free it ain't freedom unless it's a gift passed along by others who made the sacrifice. Thank you Lord for all those who made that sacrifice.

Anonymous said...

Amen.

LL said...

Freedom is bought with blood.

There's no really any other way to think of it, though I fear that many in Washington don't see it that way. Therefore the hallowed sacrifices that keeps us safe are often overlooked.

Christopher - Conservative Perspective said...

Great post!

May God Bless all our Vets and Troops!

Anonymous said...

God Bless our troops and vets

Opus #6 said...

Thank you to all our vets.

Rhod said...

Someone - I can't recall who - said that every person who wears, or ever wore, a uniform wrote a blank check to Uncle Sam.

Probably none of us here who served, in any capacity, remember doing that. That's even more amazing in itself.

Thanks to all my comrades everywhere and for those who waited and worried. Never forget them.

Kid said...

Nice one Nickie.

Anonymous said...

I remember the vets of my youth. They were everywhere... barbers, grocers, cabbies, teachers, priests. Today, I idolize and honor those men.

WoFat said...

The sound of taps can sometimes hit you like a wet rope.

Teresa said...

As Ronald Reagan stated, "Peace thru strength." Yes, Freedom isn't free. Great post, Nickie! God Bless America!