My kind of 1%er. America’s treasure.
This coming Friday, son Doug will be the MC for our local Veteran's Day tribute. Most of these tributes read the poem, "In Flanders Field".
Doug feels that "In Flanders Field" is not appropriate because American men and women did not fight and die at that location, and the poem was written by a Canadian.
Doug has modified a United States Army Infantry poem to give recognition to all American Veterans and will present and read it this Friday at the local Veteran's Day ceremony.
Below is Doug's tribute:
For over two centuries we have kept our nation safe. Purchasing freedom with our blood. To tyrants, we are the day of reckoning; to the oppressed, the hope for the future. Where we were needed, we were there…We are Veterans!
Whether we were Eagles guarding the Heavens … grunts being King of our Hill or Sea wolves stalking our prey under the waves … we all were and are Veterans …. Sworn defenders of our Constitution. We built our Fortress of Liberty …. We guarded the Gates of Freedom … We signed the Blank Check … payable in blood.
We had not yet even begun to fight but we were there from the beginning, meeting the enemy face to face, will to will. Hardship…And glory we have known. Our bleeding feet stained the snow at Valley Forge; our frozen hands pulled Washington across the Delaware. At Yorktown, while the sunlight glinted from the sword we, begrimed…and saw our Nation born.
At New Orleans, we fought beyond the hostile hour, showed the fury of our long rifle…and came of age.
We were with Scott at Vera Cruz…hunted the guerilla in the mountain passes…and scaled the high plateau. The fighting was done when we ended our march many miles from the old Alamo.
From Bull Run to Appomattox, we fought and bled. Both Blue and Gray were our colors then. Two masters we served and united them strong…proved that this nation could right a wrong…and long endure.
We led the charge up San Juan Hill …scaled the walls of old Tientsin…and stalked the Moro in the steaming jungle …still always the vanguard.
At Chateau-Thierry, first over the top, then we stood like a rock on the Marne. We cracked the Hindenburg Line…We broke the Kaiser's spine…and didn't come back home 'till it was "over, over there."
A generation older we briefly bowed at Pearl Harbor and Bataan, but then vowed to return. We fought and won the greatest naval battles in history, from Midway to Guadalcanal to Okinawa. Our foe fought to the death and we set the Rising Sun.
We assaulted the African shore…learned our lessons the hard way in the desert sands…we pressed our buttons into the beach at Anzio…and bounced into Rome with determination and resolve.
We cleared the skies over Europe with wild Mustangs, Lightnings and Thunderbolts.
We crossed the English channel … Breached Hitler’s Atlantic Wall …We broke out at St. Lo … Unbent the Bulge…Vaulted the Rhine…and swarmed the Heartland. Hitler's dream and the Third Reich died. We won the greatest war in history.
At birth our Air Force won it’s first victory … by feeding freedom from the jaws of an evil dictator and proved that all freemen are Berliners.
In Korea, we gathered our strength around Pusan…swept across the frozen Han…outflanked the Reds at Inchon…and marched to the Yalu, and kept a nation free.
At the brink of World War … We caused our enemy to blink.
In Vietnam, while others turned aside, we fought the long fight, from the Central Highlands to the South China Sea. We patrolled the jungle, the paddies, the rivers and owned the skies in the bitter test that belongs to the betrayed. While WE never lost a battle, we came home to be spit on.
Around the world, we stand…ever forward. At Berlin's gates, we scorned the Wall of Shame. We spanned the Caribbean in freedom's cause, answering humanity's cry. In Santo Domingo we patrolled the streets to protect the innocent. In Grenada, we jumped at Salinas and rescued our fellow citizens and proclaimed freedom for all. Our arms set a Panamanian dictator to flight and once more raised freedom’s flag. In the Persian Gulf, we drew the line in the desert and won the Mother of all Battles.
When cowards attacked women and children on 9-11, we planted the seeds of freedom in the cradle of civilization. We will not submit … we will not convert … the cowards can run … but they will only die tired.
Where brave men fight…there I fought and stood. In freedom's cause…I live and I kill. From Concord Bridge to Heartbreak Ridge, from the Arctic to the Mekong, from the Caribbean to Kabul…Always ready…then, now, and forevermore.
My bayonet…on the wings of power… keeps freedom worldwide. And despots, falsely garbed in freedom's mantle, falter…hide…. And die.
I Follow…I Teach… I Aid… I Lead …I am a Veteran! FOLLOW ME!
Portions from the poem,” I am the Infantry”