Old Soldier

A protest raged on a courthouse lawn,

Round a makeshift stage they charged on,

Fifteen hundred or more they say,

Had come to burn a flag that day.

A boy held up the folded flag,

Cursed it, and called it a dirty rag.

An old man pushed through the angry crowd,

With a rusty shotgun shouldered proud.

His uniform jacket was old and tight,

He had polished each button, shiny and bright.

He crossed that stage with a soldier's grace,

Until he and the boy stood face to face.

"Freedom of speech", the old man said,

"Is worth dying for, good men are dead,

So you can stand on this courthouse lawn,

And talk us down from dusk to dawn.

But before any flag gets burned today,

This old man is going to have his say!

My father died on a foreign shore,

In a war they said would end all war.

In the shadow of a hill he couldn't quite reach.

Where five good men raised this flag so high,

That the whole damn world could see it fly.

I got this bum leg that I still drag,

Fighting for this same old flag.

Now there's but one shot in this old gun,

So now it's time to decide which one,

Which one of you will follow our lead,

To stand and die for what you believe?

For as sure as there is a rising sun,

You'll burn in hell 'fore this flag burns, son."

Now this riot never came to pass.

The crowd got quiet and that can of gas,

Got set aside as they walked away.

To talk about what they had heard this day.

And the boy who had called it a "dirty rag",

Handed the old soldier the folded flag.

So the battle of the flag this day was won

By a tired old soldier with a rusty gun,

Who for one last time, had to show to some,

"This Flag May Fade, Yet These Colors Don't Run".

(Author: Unknown to Me)

A Special Thank You

To my Friend Kathy H

Thank you for sending this to me

From the Heart of Angel

Many men and women have given their lives defending the flag and the freedoms that we all enjoy. It is in remembrance of these people that makes this story so heart touching. This man exercised one of the freedoms that we all enjoy perhaps without even thinking about it. For some of us we never realize how much freedom we have until we have lost it. Let us never forget the ones that have given their lives and let us never forget the ones that have gone through much suffering for our freedom. Some die in battle while other carry scars and memories of wartime that has brought on suffering for the rest of their lives. Let us always honor the ones that have made the sacrifice for our freedom.