Happy 4th of July

I found this on a fellow bloggers blog and couldnt resist sharing it here! This is my 20th year serving in the military and I still tear up when I hear the National Anthem or any other patriotic song. You will see me swinging my fist to Toby Keith and wanting to beat some Taliban butt too! (lol) Happy 4th of July everyone, please take a moment to think about those that are still serving, away from home to keep us safe in bed! This truly is the best Country and I love what I do for a living!!!

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' g raves ?
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.

Thank you to all my fellow service men, women and all their loved ones who wait so patiently for their return.