FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

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 is not 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.
NO, Freedom is not free.

This was written by Cadet Major Kelly Strong,
Air Force Junior ROTC,
Homestead Senior High School,
Homestead, Fl 1988.

Always Remember

Always remember our fore fathers who have gone into battle, and for those who still fight for our Country, our freedom. Those willing and have gone to places they have never been, because they knew their country needed them. Leaving behind Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Wives, Husbands and Children.

To stand guard without sleep, to fight in the cold, heat and rain, knowing they stand for Freedom, saying “We will not bend, we will not bow, we will not go gentle into that good night”
"I am an American!"

We must never forget those who have left this earth fighting for our Country,
and for the families of that soldier.
So when bowing your head in prayer, say a prayer for the families
of that son or daughter that soldier that gave their life for us, our Country, our FREEDOM.

For all wars that have been fought,
FOR ALL
MARINES, ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, NATIONAL GUARD AND
COAST GUARD
THEN AND NOW.