THE SOLDIER

I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind
the soldier at Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in
his bloody hands.

He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of
food, wounded from months of battle and emotionally
scarred from the eternity away from his family
surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war.

He stands tough, with fire in his eyes and victory on
his breath. He looks at us now in anger and disgust
and tells us this...

I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the
Constitution and now your children graduate too
illiterate to read it.   I fought in the snow barefoot
to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home
because it rains.

I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of
speech and you remain silent on critical issues,
because it might be bad for business.

I orphaned my children to give you a government to
serve you and it has stolen democracy from the people.

It's the soldier not the reporter who gives you the
freedom of the press.
It's the soldier not the poet who gives you the
freedom of speech.

It's the soldier not the campus organizer who allows
you to demonstrate.

It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the
flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows
the protester to burn the flag!!!

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect
them as they protect us. Bless them and their families
for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time
of need. Amen."


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When you read this, please stop for a moment and
say a prayer for our U.S. ground troops in
Afghanistan, and the ones facing deployment to Iraq at
this very moment - AND all over this world.