No, Freedom
Isn't Free
Author
Unknown
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 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.
Graphics courtesy of Papagei
Memorial Day
History
While
there is some question about the origins of Memorial
Day, originally called Decoration Day, there is no
doubt one of the first was celebrated in the South. In
January 1866, women in Columbus, Georgia issued a
public call for the graves of Confederate soldiers to
be covered with flowers. The first Confederate
Decoration Days were observed that year in April in
Columbus, Mississippi; Columbus, Georgia; and Holly
Springs, Mississippi. In 1868, commander-in-chief of
the GAR, General John A. Logan, ordered the 30th of
May be set aside as a Memorial Day for the purpose of
honoring the dead of the Civil War. General James
Garfield was the speaker at the first observance at
Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868. Over
time, the day became one of remembrance for all who
had given their life in battle for America.
 
Taps
(Note: there are no "official"
words to Taps.
Below are the most
popular.)
Day is
done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the
lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely
rest,
God is nigh.
Go to
sleep,
peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or
sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the
deep,
Safe in sleep.
Love,
good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And
the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth
all
To their rest.
Fades
the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the
stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has
gone,
Night is on.
Thanks
and praise,
For our days,
'Neath the
sun,
Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we
go,
This we know,
God is nigh.
Graphics courtesy of Papagei
  
 
 
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