"Red and white"

(In the days before Memorial Day 2010).

Rippling waves of red and white
Twinkling stars amidst navy sea
American flag flutters in the breeze
Proudly displayed from the heights
O'er Pentagon, Capitol dome,
She is a glorious sight!

Those who dreamed
Such freedom to create
Bowed the knee
Raised their rifle
Left family and friends
Sailing to distant lands

Crossing rivers, seas, continents,
Facing firing squads and torture pits,
Furious cavalry, fierce artillery
Hangman's noose, exotic disease,
Summer's heat and winter's snow,
Fire, bullet, rocket, torpedo.

California, Carolinas,
Alamo, Potomac's shore,
Lexington to Gettysburg,
Blood bought land,
Normandy and Vietnam,
Iraq and Afghanistan,

Losing limbs, minds, and lives
Broken bodies, broken homes
Mourning father, son, and brother,
Mother, daughter, sister, friend
All so that banner might wave
Above picket fence, prison cell.