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I am Your Flag
"Traditionalists say I was born of a woman's hand fashioned from bits of
colored cloth by a seamstress in a small house in Philadelphia, a year after the new country was born.
Historians are less certain of my origin. Yet, no one doubts my existence. I
was created out of necessity to serve as the emblem of a people whose
experiment in nationhood was as unique as the arrangement of my stars and
stripes.
I have proved my adaptability to change. I've accommodated growth. I've
stood up to time and troubles. I fluttered in the Fall air with General
Washington and his loyal French allies at Yorktown. My fabric was shredded
by cannonballs from British frigates in the War of 1812 and I was carried in
triumph by Andy Jackson at New Orleans. The British could see me clearly in
the mists of "dawn's early light," waving from the standards at Fort
McHenry.
I've witnessed turmoil and bitterness, even lost some of my glory in
mid-century in a war between brothers, but I was restored as a nation's
emblem at Appomattox.
I traveled West with the new frontier. I flew from the headlamps of the Iron
Horse in Utah. I was with the prospectors at Sutter's Mill, with the cavalry
against cattle rustlers, with the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill.
I crossed the Marne with the doughboys anxious to make the world safe for
democracy. I was raised over a shell-pocked hilltop at Iwo Jima and I stood
by the grim-faced negotiators at Panmunjom. I was on that last helicopter
from Saigon and with the men and women of Operation Desert Storm.
I have been around in victory and defeat. I've seen pain and pleasure. I've
been folded smartly by soldiers and handed to weeping widows. I've covered
the coffins of those who've served country and community.
But, I also decorate bandstands and concert halls. I am saluted in parades,
in schools and at ball parks.
I am part of political campaigns, high holidays and ice cream socials. I fly
from skyscrapers and bungalows. I've been to the Moon and the ocean floor.
I am everywhere my people are. I am saluted and, occasionally, scorned. I
have been held with pride and I have been ridiculed, because I am everything
my people are: proud, angry, happy, sad, vengeful, argumentative, ambitious,
indifferent.
I was created to serve a people in struggle and a government in change.
There are now more stars in my blue field than there were in the beginning
and, if need be, there's room for more.
But, those red and white stripes remain as they've always remained: clearly
visible through the struggle the symbol of the "land of the free and the
home of the brave."
I am your past. I am your future. I am your flag.
By Bob Nelson
KYW Newsradio
(our local news station - Philadelphia)
Forgotten Fighter
Forgotten Fighter
by James Kisner
"In World War II," he whispered, "I was wounded by a blast."
As he began his story, reminiscing of his past.
"I was just a boy back then, I lied about my age."
"To get into the army, and .... fight for the U.S.A."
"I love this country very much, it's still the very best."
"And I would fight, to keep it free, and safe from foreign pest."
"We won that war, and I came home, my wounds had healed enough,
To re-enlist with other men." "The army made us tough."
"Then a little flare up, in Korea called us out."
"A threat against our freedom, spreading fear without a doubt."
"There I caught a bullet, when I tried to save a friend."
"Another wound, for Uncle Sam, they sent me home to mend."
"Soldier, have you had enough? My sergeant said to me."
"Or, do you want another tour, if ever there's to be?"
"We would train and fight again, if ever ..... it need be."
"Because we love America, we'll fight to keep it free."
"It didn't take too long, before my boys were off again."
"We were shipped off to a war, we thought would never end."
"I didn't understand it much, if it was wrong or right."
"But ..... I was a U.S. soldier, and my country said "Go fight."
"I never questioned orders, that were sent from up above."
"I did it for America, the country, that I love."
"I fought to keep my country safe, again, in Viet Nam."
"Then, wounded I came home again, a victim of napalm."
"My fighting days were over now, and I had given all."
"But some had given more than me, their names are on a wall."
"I am now, well up in years, a soldier old and worn."
"I could only sit and pray, as I watched Desert Storm."
"So proud of our boys over there, who stand for what is right."
"Freedom is the battle cry, the reason why they fight."
"Young soldiers fight for liberty, protecting freedoms bliss."
"Old soldiers dream of by-gone-days, while fighting loneliness."
"We were heroes in our day," He said, and then he sighed.
"Forgotten in some V.A. home, and all my friends have died."
"I never ask for anything, just wanted to live free."
"But if you write this story, there are many just like me."
"Who fought to keep our country, safe and free from every foe."
"Only to come home again, and have no place to go."
"Sadly, when the limelight fails, Heroes fade away."
"Some men fight the silent battles, till their dying day."
"Please .... remember what it took, and what we had to pay."
"And join with us remembering on this Memorial Day."
"Memorial Day is special, it is not just summer's start."
"The reason that we have this day, should be etched on your heart."
"Lives were lost, and young men died, to keep this country free."
"So take a moment on that day, to meditate with me."
"Remember all those valiant men, and women who fought for,
The lifestyle that you now enjoy, because they went to war."
by James Kisner
May 24, 2000
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