Veteran’s Day ~ Remembrance

“FOR TOO LONG, TOO MANY OF US HAVE PAID SCANT ATTENTION TO THE SACRIFICE OF A BRAVE FEW IN OUR MIDST.  IT IS UNHEALTHY FOR A NATION TO BECOME DETACHED FROM THOSE WHO SECURE IT.”_______Howard Schultz, author of For Love of Country

I first want to give my personal THANK YOU to each and every veteran that fights for peace and freedom!!!  I tear up and become speechless at the mere sight of any one of you!!

 Here in the United States of America we do our best to convey our gratitude to these men and women for giving so much of themselves for our safety on this day.  In such nations as: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, England, India, Mauritius, South Africa and many in Europe, a day set aside is called Remembrance Day and was recently observed.

Our fellow blogger @ Parent Rap led me to this –  100 Ways to Honor a Veteran – if you care to view it – CLICK HERE.

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

by: Cadet Major Kelly Strong, Air Force Junior ROTC, Homestead Senior High, Homestead, FL 1988

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 mother’s tears?

 

How many pilot’s planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldier’s 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 certain chill.

 

I wondered how many times

that Taps meant “Amen,”

When a flag 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

O unmarked graves in Arlington

No, freedom is not free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes –

Andrew Byers – Rolesville, NC; US Army, Afghanistan, 10th Special Forces Group, Capt., Bronze Star, Purple Heart, KIA

Jason Finan – Anaheim, CA; US Navy, Iraq, Chief Petty Officer, KIA

Ryan Gloyer – Denton, PA; US Army, Afghanistan, 10th Special Forces Group, Sgt., Bronze Star, Purple Heart, KIA

William Hobbs – Marietta, GA; US Army, WWII, PTO, 187th Reg/11th Airborne & later 82nd Airborne (Ret.)

Matthew Lewellen – Kirksville, MI; US Army, Jordan, Special Forces, SSgt., KIA

Kevin McEnroe – Tucson, AZ; US Army, Afghanistan, Jordan, KIA

James Moriarty – Kerrville TX, US Army, Jordan, KIA

Dakota Stump – Avon, IN; US Army, 1st Cavalry Division, Ft. Hood

Adam Thomas – Lyon County, MN; US Army, Afghanistan, !0th Special Forces A/B, SSgt., Bronze Star, Purple Heart, KIA

David Whitcher – Bradford, NH; US Army, SSgt., 1st Special Warfare Training Group

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