Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. Since the American Revolution to the War in Iraq 1,197,238 soldiers have lost their lives fighting for our freedom. We should always be grateful for the people who gave their lives as well as for the families that sacrificed their loved ones so that we can remain free.

No, Freedom Isn't Free

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 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 stillI 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.