Concerning Soldiers
& Flags
The Soldier
It is the soldier, not the
reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the
poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the
campus organizer, who has biven us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the
lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, who salutes
the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped
by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.
The Battle of
the Flag
A protest raged
on a courthouse lawn,
Round a makeshift
state they charged on,
Fifteen hundred
or more they say,
Had come to burn
a Flag that day.
A boy held up
the folded Flag,
Cursed it, and
called it a dirty rag.
An OLD MAN pushed
through the angry crowd,
With a rusty shotgun
shouldered proud.
His uniform jacket
was old and tight,
He had polished
each button, shiny and bright.
He crossed that
stage with a soldier's grace,
Until he and the
boy stood face to face.
"FREEDOM
OF SPEECH", the OLD MAN said,
"Is worth
dying for, good men are dead,
So you can stand
on this courthouse lawn,
And talk us down
from dusk to dawn,
But before any
Flag gets burned today,
This OLD MAN IS
GOING TO HAVE HIS SAY!!
My father died
on a foreign shore,
In a war they
said would end all war.
But Tommy and
I wasn't even full grown,
Before we fought
in a war of our own.
And Tommy died
on Iwo Jima's beach,
In the shadow
of a hill he couldn't quite reach
Where five good
men raised this Flag so high,
That the WHOLE
DAMN WORLD COULD SEE IT FLY.
I got this bum
leg that I still drag,
Fighting for this
same old Flag.
Now there's but
one shot in this old gun,
So now it's time
to decide which one,
which one of you
will follow our lead,
To stand and die
for what you believe?
For as sure as
there is a rising sun,
You'll burn in
Hell 'fore this Flag burns, son."
Now this riot
never came to pass
The crowd got
quiet and that can of gas,
Got set aside
as they walked away
To talk about
what they had heard this day.
And the boy who
had called it a "dirty rag",
Handed the OLD
SOLDIER the folded Flag.
So the battle
of the Flag this day was won
By a tired OLD
SOLDIER with a rusty gun,
who for one last
time, had to show to some,
THIS FLAG MAY
FADE, YET THESE COLORS DON'T RUN!!!!
written by Gary Huddleston
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Website created and maintained
by B. Miller: 
Last update 17
June 2007.
