Posted on 03/12/2003 9:42:15 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
Edited on 03/12/2003 10:51:29 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
CAMP NEW JERSEY, Kuwait -- After a week, life for the soldiers of the 101st Airborne has settled into a windy, sandy, exhausting routine.
Each morning, well before dawn, long lines of young infantrymen shuffle through a thick desert haze to the live-fire ranges where they practice shooting, breaching Iraqi trenches and waging urban warfare.
Each afternoon, as the heat of the day turns their faces deep red, they train in battlefield first aid, combat rules of engagement and the evacuation of surrendering prisoners of war.
I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody hands.
He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war.
He stands though, with fire in his eyes and victory on his breath. He looks at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this...
I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it.
I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains.
I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business.
I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you and it has stolen democracy from the people.
It's the soldier not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press.
It's the soldier not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech.
It's the soldier not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate.
It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!!!
"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen."
Prayer Wheel:
When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our U.S. ground troops in Afghanistan, Kuwait AND all over this world.
They forgot 'grabass'
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