Freedom Isn’t Free

Happy 4th of July!

When I was a child in elementary school, I stood beside my desk at the start of every school day and recited (along with everyone else) the Pledge of Allegiance. I placed my hand over my heart, and pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. In a few years, I came to realize that my allegiance was to the Republic for which the flag stood… one nation under God… indivisible… with liberty and justice for all.

As a child, I did not yet realize that the liberty we enjoy here in the United States of America, the freedoms we take for granted, are bought by the service and sacrifice of the men and the women who serve this country as part of the Armed Services.

God Bless our Military! They protect our Country and our Freedom. Thanks to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.

Kelly Strong wrote the following poem in 1981. It is as full of meaning today as it was when Kelly first penned it.

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
by Kelly Strong

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 is not 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!

Copyright 1981 by Kelly Strong

As you celebrate our country’s independence today, reflect on the freedoms we enjoy. Collect those around you today and take a minute to pray for all those serving our country. Of all the gifts you could give a U.S. Soldier, prayer is the very best one. God Bless Our Troops.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave