Freedom Is Not Free
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
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
Now, go find a Memorial Day service near you.
I listened the Choir on Sunday and I just cried. You see, my son is off to Afghanistan in about 4 weeks. Says it will be ok, but I think he worries about his cute wife and 2 little sons. I worry about all 4 of them. You are right, freedom is NOT free. My father in law was in Okinawa in WWII and my father was peace time Navy during the first Beirut crisis in the 50s. We go to the cemetery every year to trim headstones and place flowers and remember, especially now that Grandpa is gone..
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