Happy Fourth Of July

233 years and counting...

*****

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.

Enjoy Your Freedom &

God Bless Our Troops

*****

The History of July 4th

July 3

The Battle Of Gettysburg "Day Three"

And Full Retreat on July 4, 1863.

*****

ON THIS FOURTH OF JULY

I

HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MY READERS

THAT I WILL FOCUS ON

IN GREATER DETAIL LATER ON THIS MONTH.

I VOLUNTEERED,

AND HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED TO

A ONE YEAR TOUR IN AFGHANISTAN,

COOKING FOR AND FEEDING THE TROOPS.

I LEAVE ON AUGUST SECOND.

WISH ME LUCK...