UNITED STATES MILITARY MEMORIAL

I passed a soldier's grave today
And I kneeled and said a prayer.
I wondered if our country knew
How much this soldier cared.

I walked around the graveyard
Thinking of the sacrifice
Of those that gave us freedom
And in the battle lost their life.

How some had died so far away
While they served our country well,
How some of them died back at home
After surviving battle's hell.

In the distance I saw someone
Holding up a little flag,
Then they knelt and placed it
On the grave where I had prayed.

I heard them say "I love you",
Then they stood up straight and tall
And said "I'm proud to be the parent
Of a child that chanced it all."

I thought about this freedom
That can never be repaid,
And I thought about my only son
Not a soldier, but in a grave.

Although he died, I'm thankful,
And although his years were few,
While he lived upon this earth
It was "freedom" that he knew.

I possess this simple freedom
Just to walk amongst the graves,
And mourn the death of my own son,
Because of what a soldier gave.

© 2009 - Christine Ross

Published
MAY 2010, Volume 25 No. 5
LIVING WITH LOSS magazine
Bereavement Publications, Inc.

BUTTERFIELD'S LULLABY
(Taps)

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well; Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.

~Henry Ward Beecher

For love of country they accepted death...

~James A. Garfield

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

~Lee Greenwood

Forget me not

"VISIT WITH LUKE"

Last Entry in Luke's Journal:

"When there is love in my heart and a smile on my face,
I need nothing else." ~ Luke Ross

"MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU"

Music playing:
TAPS