Monday, May 25, 2009

Lest We Forget...

As we go through our day, bar-b-queing, spending time with friends and family, may we take a few moments to remember the reason we are enjoying this beautiful day off of work and school. May we take a few moments to give thanks to those brave men and women who have laid down thier lives so that freedom may prevail. Without their sacrifices we would not be the truly remarkable country that we are today. In the words of our former Commander in Chief "May God continue to Bless America!!!" Memorial Day Poem
By: Kelly Strong
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 square cut hair 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 buggler 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!

2 comments:

Kim Messick said...

Thank you for reminding me that freedom isn't free and we should be on our knees daily to thank our Father for this land and those who gave their lives for us to live here. May America always be free...
love you guys!

Florene or Lori said...

Thank you so much, Heather for this post! Whenever I think of all of the sacrifices that men and women have made to keep our land free, I am reminded of the promises made eons ago to an early Prophet on this land, Nephi, when he was promised that as long as we lived God's laws and obeyed His commandments, our land -- this land would be blessed. And there were many men and women who made sacrifices in those stories of old to preserve liberty then, too. Yes, may God continue to bless America!