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Memorial Day Tribute
Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday originally held in commemoration
of soldiers killed in the Civil War (1868). Its observance
later extended to all U.S. war dead. Most states observe
the holiday on the last Monday in May, but some retain
the traditional day of celebration, May 30.
National observance is marked by the placing
of a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns
in Arlington National Cemetery.
Freedom isn't free
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' graves?
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.
Cadet Major /Kelly Strong
Air Force Junior ROTC
Homestead Senior High
Homestead, Florida 1988