The Soldier's Prayer

"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 barefoot in the snow to give you the freedom to vote and you stay 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 freedom of the press. It's the soldier, not the poet who gives you 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! Father of us all, 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." When you read this please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and all over the world.