[Faith-talk] Happy 4th of July

[Rob Kaiser]

Please pass this on. 







  Happy 4th of July Friends! .... 
  Let' s get this started ,NOW!  So it arrives by the Fourth! 





  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   LIBERTY
  AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!  
  Including Religious Freedom
  KEEP IT LIT!! KEEP IT LIT! 
  For all of our other military personnel, where ever they may be. 
  Please Support all of the past, present & future 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.

  Take a moment now and say a prayer for our Servicemen, Police & Firemen. 

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


  Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you Jesus Christ 
  and the American GI.  
  One died for your soul, the other for your freedom 
  You might want to pass this on ... 
  as some seem to forget them both.