Memorial Day - 2005

[muck]

WISHING ALL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS

IN ARMS AND THEIR FAMILIES A GREAT

MEMORIAL DAY.


LET'S NOT FORGET TO TAKE THE TIME TO

HONOR THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR ALL SO

THAT WE MAY ENJOY AND REMEMBER

THAT OUR FREEDOMS DO NOT COME

WITHOUT COST.


SEMPER FIDELIS,
MUCK (GREG):marine:

[Joseph P Carey]

A job well done!

The Warrior is a lonely forgotten man, when he is not needed any longer, but he always waits to serve again.

On this Memorial Day, remember the Warriors like my Great GG Grandfther (Civil War), My Grand Father (WWI), My Father (WWII), My uncle (Korea), My Broither and I, and my cousins (Vietnam), my Children, my nieces and my nephews ( the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan). Warriors, one and all! We gave so as other may have!

[thedrifter]

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,
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.



~Copyright 1981 By KellyStrong@aol.com

[thedrifter]

THE OLD GLORY




I AM THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, MY NAME IS -"OLD GLORY".

I FLY ATOP THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDINGS,

I STAND WATCH IN AMERICA'S HALLS OF JUSTICE.

I FLY MAJESTICALLY OVER THE GREAT INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING.

I STAND GUARD WITH THE GREATEST MILITARY POWER IN THE WORLD.

LOOK UP!-AND SEE ME! I STAND FOR PEACE-HONOR-TRUTH-JUSTICE, I STAND FOR FREEDOM.

I AM CONFIDENT-I AM ARROGANT,-I AM PROUD.

WHEN I AM FLOWN WITH MY FELLOW BANNERS, MY HEAD IS HELD A LITTLE HIGHER,-MY COLORS A LITTLE TRUER...I BOW TO NO ONE!

I AM RECOGNIZED ALL OVER THE WORLD. I AM WORSHIPED-I AM SALUTED-I AM RESPECTED, I AM REVERED-I AM LOVED, AND I AM FEARED!

I HAVE FOUGHT IN EVERY BATTLE IN EVERY WAR, FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS: GETTYSBURG, SHILOH, APPOMATAX, SAN JUAN HILL, THE TRENCHES OF FRANCE, THE ARGONNE FORREST, ANZIO, ROME, THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY, THE JUNGLES OF GUAM, OKINAWA, TARAWA, KOREA, VIETNAM, IN THE HEAT OF THE PERSIAN GULF, AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, AND SCORES OF PLACES, LONG FORGOTTEN BY ALL, BUT THOSE WHO WHERE THERE WITH ME,...I WAS THERE.

I LED MY SAILORS AND MARINES-I FOLLOWED THEM,-I WATCH OVER THEM,-THEY LOVE ME.

I WAS ON A SMALL HILL ON IWO JIMA, I WAS DIRTY BATTLE WORN AND TIRED,...BUT MY SAILORS AND MARINES CHEERED ME, AND I WAS PROUD!

I HAVE BEEN SOILED, BURNED, TORN AND TRAMPLED OF THE STREETS OF COUNTRIES THAT I HAVE HELPED SET FREE.

IT DOES NOT HURT,...FOR I AM INVINCIBLE.

I HAVE BEEN SOILED, BURNED, TORN AND TRAMPLED ON THE STREETS OF MY OWN COUNTRY, AND WHEN IT IS DONE BY THOSE WHOM I HAVE SERVED IN BATTLE WITH,...IT HURTS. BUT I SHALL OVERCOME...FOR I AM STRONG!

I WILL NEVER COWER BEFORE ANY MASTER NOR BEND TO ANY THREAT.

I HAVE SLIPPED THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH AND FROM MY VANTAGE POINT ON THE MOON, I STAND WATCH OVER THE UNCHARTED NEW FRONTIERS OF SPACE.

I HAVE BEEN A SILENT WITTNESS TO ALL OF AMERICA'S FINEST HOURS.

I HAVE FLOWN OVER THE TOP OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON, AND AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, I HAVE FLOWN OVER ITS RUBBLE TO REMIND THE EVIL IN OUR WORLD THAT MY SPIRIT WILL NOT BE CRUSHED.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL NOT BE BROKEN.

BUT MY FINEST HOUR COMES WHEN I AM TORN INTO STRIPS, TO BE USED AS BANDAGES FOR MY WOUNDED COMRADES ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE,...WHEN I FLY HALF MAST TO HONOR MY SAILORS AND MARINES,...AND...WHEN I LIE IN THE TREMBLING ARMS OF A GRIEVING MOTHER, AT THE GRAVE-SIDE OF HER FALLEN SON OR DAUGHTER,...I AM PROUD...MY NAME IS "OLD GLORY",...LONG MAY I WAVE.

[Since1775]

"Memorial Day means we're a voice to those who didn't come back."

[Since1775]

http://www.since1775.com/leatherneck/proudandfree.jpg

[Ed Palmer]

A Soldiers PoemTHE PATRIOT
By: Sergeant Aaron M. Gilbert
The patriot the soldier,
The young and the old,
Protect our great country.
They stand to be bold.

Some protest in spite,
Some riot in rage,
Some scream "Peace and not war!"
From the safety of their cage.

But we who stand up
For freedom to reign,
Give all that we have,
And expect nothing to gain.

But the freedom we win,
We give without fail.
No crying or *****ing,
For WE have prevailed.

We are the soldiers,
Who give up our lives,
Leave all that we know,
To pay the ultimate price.

Freedom is not free,
It come with it's toll,
And some never return,
And leave their stories untold.

I acknowledge the protest,
The riots, the rage,
And the ones given their freedom
Without having to pay.

But let it be known,
Come rain, sleet or hail,
The Marines are on call,
To fight and die for your betrayal.


Dedicated to the Patriot, the soldier, and especially to those who have spit upon the graves of MY FRIENDS who have died in this war. May God have mercy on your souls.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 22, 2003
Sergeant Aaron M. Gilbert
United States Marine Corps
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraq
©2003 Aaron M. Gilbert

I, Aaron M. Gilbert, authorize others to make copies and distribute these works freely, and that no money can be made from the sale or distribution of these works without the Author's expressed written consent.