Last night I wandered into a small cemetery
   The small white crosses were standing in neat rows

As I stood and gazed, the view became bleary
   A shadow said "Follow me to see how the story goes

The man lying there was at the 'Boston Tea Party'
   This one was in the way when the Redcoats march started

This fellow was shot by his brother at a place called Shiloh
   He thought he saw compassion as his life flowed out the musket hole

The man under this cross came back from the French
   An enemy's gernade took his life while alone in a trench

This boy never knew what happened on December 7th of '41
   That's the day that Pearl Harbor came under the gun

This row is from the islands and jungles along the way
   In World War II they didn't have time to stop and play

That flag came from Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima
   Six Marines carried her up that famous hill

Of those, three stayed on the sands of Iwo Jima
   To be sure that 'Old Glory' always waved at will

This man was a casuality of 'the bomb' dropped at Hiroshima
   Guess radiation killed the red blood cells in him

This chap was in Korea, one of the Chosin few
   When he stepped on that mine, it killed two

Yes, that gal was killed by the Viet-Cong
   They thought that they would right a wrong

For the few you've seen, there are thousands more
   Their bodies are strown from shore to shore

There are thousands more who remain where they died
   With their final dying breaths 'For Freedom' they cried

Did I hear you say the price of freedom was free?
   Just look at how much it has cost me

My friends and I that you've met tonight
   Our lives weren't given up without a fight

Of the millions who fought and served    
  The tens of thousands who found a death un-deserved

Our lives to keep we would not yearn
   If we had to watch 'Old Glory' burn.

As I stood and the fog began lifting
   Behind each cross, a silhouette unshifting

As if in one voice, so low and clear
   They said 'We are proud to have done our share

We left for you the greatest nation on earth, in tact
   With the basic freedoms to enjoy, and thats a fact

Since our voices have been silenced forever
   We trust that you will under take this endeavor'.

That's the way it was told to me
   So let us, you and me, keep this country free

Lets keep 'Old Glory' on the pole
   And know their story has been told!                         

John W. Pruitt

This was written a few years ago. I was motivated by our Congressman at the time, the late Mike Synar. He had made the statement that burning the flag was a expression of free speech and people should be allowed to do so without fear of reprisial.

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