A Memorial Day Tribute

I just want to pay homage this Memorial Day weekend to all of the men and women, past, present and future, wherever and however they have sacrificed or will sacrifice in giving service to this great country and the freedoms I enjoy. God Bless each and every one of you and your families.

The true meaning of Memorial Day.

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

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,
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 isn’t 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.

 — Kelly Strong

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God

Matthew 5:9

William Edwin Carter
Corporal
B CO, 2ND BN, 60TH INFANTRY, 9TH INF DIV, USARV
Army of the United States
Van Wert, Ohio
July 28, 1949 to September 16, 1969
WILLIAM E CARTER is on the Wall at Panel W18, Line 93