IT'S THE SOLDIER
It's the soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the
PRESS.
It's the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of
SPEECH.
It's the soldier, not the campus
ORGANIZER,
Who has given us the freedom to
DEMONSTRATE
It's the soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a
FAIR TRIAL.
It's the soldier who salutes the flag,
Serves under the flag
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who gives the protester the right to burn the flag.
-Father D. E. O'Brien
The poem you posted has a lot of meaning in our family because for Christmas my brother had framed that poem for my Dad as a gift. We read it at his funeral and at a Memorial Day tribute that was held locally. Brian said it was written by Charles M. Province though-I hope we weren't giving credit to the wrong person. Thank you for posting it--Means a lot!
Hi. I am Brian's Dad, and really appreciate the support and caring that I am seeing on this site. I wanted to note that this poem, It's the Soldier, was given to me by Brian as a present when he was home on leave last Christmas. It obviously meant a lot to him, it means a lot to me, and the family has been trying to get it read every chance we can, including at his funeral in April. God Bless ALL the troops around the world. They are each as precious as our Brian was to us.