Ye band of brothers few... who did bleed the fields of valor red, whose, sacrifice now speaks to us all... with one voice... they call: Arise take our standard true and stand too. Raise high the banners of liberty's cause... Once more, sound the trumpet loud and beat the drummer's cadence, muster one and all. Let the cadence of our heart... bear witness of the despot's hand... as the righteous arise, in all the land... too, cast off the cursed work of desperate man.
For sooner, did the cowards brace their lesser course... give way, before the tide of Patriots True, these brothers few, who did charge with steel their homeward course, to give no breath to these lesser men... they stood in testament to liberties voice. Stand now ye, men of valor true... Lift up thine eyes, and with no more ado, take hold of your heritage... and with the sword of truth stand true. That our Nation may no more suffer the cowards brace; lay hold of our father's course, and stay true to their race... as a permanent memorial to their courage, brace the tyrant, and take up your father's chalice, too drink of liberty while it may be found.
Let us remember this day of memorial... On this day, let us honor, those who answered liberty's call. Let us consider their sacrifice... with tears of sorrow for all who suffered death, that we may have tomorrow, and tomorrow, in liberty's embrace. For those brave few, that band of brothers true, righteously speak in their silence anew... That our children may stand in liberties brace, tomorrow and tomorrow, a true memorial to their just cause.
Let this day be no more, a fleeting memory... that catches the wind and then ado. No more, a breath of the past, so desperately needed by we few, we veterans of sorrows fields, long lost. Let us gather now our strength, in hollowed remembrance of our fallen comrades... Whose sacrifice did furnish our tables and secured our fortunes, with liberty's garlands and freedoms embrace, let us remember this day of grace... with every waking day... let us lay our wreaths, our garlands anew...upon those fields of remembrance, recalling our lost brothers true... with equal sacrifice, keeping their cause hollowed and renewed.
We shall never forget... those few, that band of brother’s true; whose blood did run red, who’s dead we now memorialize... Whose steadfast courage, did refresh the Tree of Liberty, for you and I. God bless them all, now and in eternity that their memory may never die. For they are the keepers of liberty's gate, the watchmen on the wall, for us all. Remember their call, this day, stand tall one and all... for this band of brother's true... These few gave all... that you and I, need not die, nor perish for the lack of liberty, one for all.
Let us remember those who bore this burden... many care not to embrace... knowing, that thru their sacrifice, grace brought liberty and prosperity to our gate. That peace may be our Children's inheritance and our Grand Children's heritage. Freedom is not free, and liberty has a price. A price that must be paid, in a world, where tyrants would deny the whole... their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Amen.
By:
Ronald A. Nelson
COL., US Army (retired)
Replies
This time of year is meant to remind that certain things should not be dismissed as no longer relevant in our daily lives.
I remember those who many many people, some young, some old, who have lived out their lives or had them cut short by others, and all of them have had an effect on my own.
As a young kid I asked an Uncle who was showing me a German ceremonial sword along with a Luger that he had brought home with him, I asked if he had ever killed anybody. His answer was "probably." He was not proud of it.
Another Uncle, my Mom's only brother in the six sisters she had, when he came home from WWII he was a different person. Shell Shock was what it was called in the 50's. He drank himself to death in 1965. Yet another Uncle who was a tail gunner on a B-17, was shot down, shot through the mouth, captured, manage to escape, committed suicide in 1960. Other family members who served came home to live long lives, seemingly unscathed by WWII and/or Viet Nam. One was a Green Beret. Not one of them was "unscathed" by war. They just seemed that way.
I served as well. I don't talk about it much. I am old now, and I remember. Friends as well as family. But, memories are soon forgotten. So quickly. Life is short.
Remember. And give thanks to God. Always. It is most important that we do.
And think on this. We are all Brothers, and Sisters, in the big picture of our being. And we are all affected by those who gave their lives for us, and their well being. Honor your Mother, and your Father. Remember them all.
They are part of You.
MEMORIES
We are often haunted by memories that refuse to be forgotten… we try to hide, but they always find us. We think we are finished with the past… done, but we can never erase the indelible ink of history's mark… They never die, not in the cloak of our mortal state… in the eye of the flesh. As long as we live, they hold us captive. The haunting memories of nights long lost, sooner bring us to remember, sorrows of ill-spent days… when youths exuberance, lead us to folly’s door… fast astray.
It is these memories that carry us to days spent in somber remembrance… of friends and times when the night held more than mere memories… of raucous hours, spent… A cliquey in time, that rises, with the beat of one’s heart; too meter out the silence of remorse, so is our memory of days spent, were love did fast, and time did measure… the beat of memories, so sweet, and days of hope, long lost in time…
So it is that man travels this world… thru this temporal order, surrounded by the aura of loves blessing … not quite perfect… not quite blind. Man, who barely grasps the ordinary world, soon finds… no solace in the present; where dreams are fixed upon the perfection to come, upon days where sorrows door… no more opens, nor plagues his memory sore.
For with God all things are possible… even the impossible must fade away, in the glory of His Light…. and the nights… long shadow must end, abruptly, at the rising of the Son and the coming of age… Of, man’s spirit reborn. Let us look once more upon the past, but no more remember the lusts of our youth, so ignorantly spent in rebellion against God’s Truth… For with the coming of age… wisdom reveals, the product of the Spirit, of rebirth, and the knowledge of God’s Word, revealed in us.
So it is that we mature in this world… leaving behind the past, for others to ponder and judge… as we have no cause to regret our sins, forgiven… our lives renewed, our soul restored… in God’s Image, once more… sons and daughters all. Amen.