Hey ya'll...got this in an email this mornin and wanted to share.....I know Calico is gonna love this one!!!

DD






I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ,

AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS,
ONE NATION UNDER  GOD,
INDIVISIBLE, WITH  LIBERTYAND JUSTICE FOR ALL! 

KEEP IT LIT!! KEEP IT LIT!
For all of our other military personnel, where ever they may be.
Please
Support all of the troops defending our Country.



And God Bless our Military
who are protecting our Country for our Freedom.
Thanks to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.




We must never forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have,
of which we should be eternally grateful.



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 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



Enjoy Your Freedom
and
God Bless Our Troops.

When you receive this,
please stop for a moment
and say a prayer for our servicemen.

Of all the gifts you could give a U.S. Soldier, prayer is the very best one.

You are right Denny, I do love that one.  I'm proud of my Marines, proud of what they stand for and what they do, and I'm proud that they are willing to stand in harm's way for us.  Mine are not the only ones though.  Karla has a son who is serving in the Corps, others here have husbands, or sons, or nephews, or nieces.  Others here on this board represent the other services, and I am proud to be associated with them as well. 

A number of you on this board have served yourselves, or are serving currently, and I am profoundly grateful for what you have done, and even continue to do by example.  I sincerely regret that I did not myself serve and don't want to be thought a chicken hawk, but I'll take it if so labeled.

I am proud of my country.  I know the USA is not the only country in the world that is worthy of pride, and I mean no disrespect to anyone else, but it is MY country, and I am proud of it.  That pride though has an incumbent burden that goes along with it.  Freedom is not free, and for the USA to remain free, strong, and worthy of pride we as Americans have to make sure that we keep our country true to the principles and ideals it was founded on.  We have strayed far from them, and I hope they can be re-established.

Thanks, Denny.  Sorry for sounding like a politician. 

Jerry

No apology intended!   I was merely recognizing that we are not the only country out there.  We have great allies that I respect highly, but frankly I wouldn't change with anyone.

Jerry