May 31, 2010
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FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Service man 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 isn't 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 isn't free.
LCDR Kelly Strong, USCG - Copyright 1981***************************
This is a traveling WALL with the names of soldiers lost in wars from WWI to Present. It was in Dallas for the Memorial Day weekend and we were blessed to visit it.
We found Dustin's name among the "Gold Dog Tags" made for those lost in the Global War on Terror. It is an honor to be among so many who have fought for our country but so hard on us to see his name in this context.
Thanks to all who make this beautiful tribute a possibility!
