Song of Freedom

We see in the news nearly every day. Since we are currently at war, American service men and women are dying in the line of duty. Regardless how you feel about the current conflict, regardless of your political party, brave young people are losing their lives and doing so because it’s their job to serve our country. It is not my intention to here debate any pro or antiwar rhetoric, but to remind us that anyone who gives their life or is injured in the line of duty is an real American hero. We must remember that at all times. Throughout the past two centuries, Americans have worn our uniform proudly and been willing to pay the ultimate price in the service of this great nation. Each of those soldiers has done so, either directly or indirectly, in defense of our freedoms and those of other nations and we must never forget their sacrifices. The very right we have to speak freely about the war, or anything else, has been paid for and protected by the blood of those who fought on behalf of our country. For whatever its faults may be, we have by far the best system of government which has ever existed in the world. We must also remember that and we must teach it to our children. Patriotism is something we learned from our parents and that we need to pass on to our own children. It is our national legacy, our cultural obligation. In the mean time, during the course of virtually decade, we are and ever shall be involved in military conflicts. Not because we are imperialistic warmongers, for we have rarely if ever annexed any territory by force, but because we believe so strongly in our ideals that we feel compelled to defend them even beyond our own borders. When our brave young men and women go into battle they are fighting for something which transcends even the defense of our sacred and sovereign borders. They fight for the God-given right of men to be free, wherever and whoever they are. When our soldiers fight their battle cries are the very song of freedom. Let us remember them, and let us also lift up their song and teach it to our own children, for their freedoms can and will only be insured by the devotion and sacrifice of our armed forces. That must be our gift to our children and our grandchildren. That is our legacy. Let freedom ring!

Song of Freedom
Still ringing are the battle cries
Of freedom from the past
Sung out by brave young men who spilled
Their blood and breathed their last
Still waving is the flag
They proudly served and held aloft
Yet, we must be ever wary
Lest our resolve grows dim and soft
Our children need to know the legacy
Of freedom which is theirs
As the gauntlet passes on to them
For they are freedom's heirs
Sons and daughters of a liberty
Which was born of trial and strife
Paid for dearly by the countless men
Who gave both limb and life
We must keep the fire burning
May we never let it die
So our children's children's children
Know the sound of freedom's cry
It's not enough to just be born here
We have to guard our liberty
And pass it on so generations
In the future will be free
By Frank Carpenter ©