Quotes

Soldier, rest, thy warfare o’er,

Dream of fighting fields no more.

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,

 Morn of toil, nor night of waking.

                                                - Sir Walter Scott

The American Flag

When freedom, from her mountain height

Unfurled her standard to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night

And set the stars of glory there.

She mingled with its gorgeous dyes

The milky baldric of the skies,

Then from his mansion in the sun

She called her eagle-bearer down

And gave into his mighty hand

The symbol of her chosen land.

                                            - Joseph Rodman Drake

In Flanders’s Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

                                          - Lt. Col. John McCrae

The Flag Goes By

Hats off!

Along the street there comes

A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,

A flash of color beneath the sky:

Hats off!

The flag is passing by!

Blue and crimson and white it shines,

Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.

Hats off!

The colors before us fly;

But more than the flag is passing by.

Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,

Fought to make and to save the State:

Weary marches and sinking ships;

Cheers of victory on dying lips;

Days of plenty and years of peace;

March of a strong land’s swift increase;

Equal justice, right and law,

Stately honor and reverend awe;

Sign of a nation, great and strong

To ward her people from foreign wrong:

Pride and glory and honor, –all

Live in the colors to stand or fall.

Hats off!

Along the street there comes

A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;

And loyal hearts are beating high:

Hats off

The flag is passing by!

                                        - Henry Holcomb Bennet

Look God

I have never spoken to You,

But now I want to say, how do you do

You see God, they told me you did not exist

And, like a fool, I believed all of this.

Last night from a shell hole

I saw you and I figured right then

They had told me a lie.

Had I taken the time to see

The things you made,

I would know they weren’t calling

A spade a spade.

I wonder, God, if you would shake my hand

Somehow, I feel that you will understand.

Strange, I had to come to this hellish place

Before I had time to see your face.

Well, I guess there isn’t much more to say,

But I am sure glad, God, I met you today.

I guess the zero hour will soon be here,

But I am not afraid since I know you are near.

The signal – well, god, I will have to go

I love you lots, this I want you to know.

Looks like this will be a horrible fight

Who knows, I may come to your house tonight.

Though I wasn’t friendly with you before, I wonder, God,

If you would wait at the door.

Look, I am crying, me – shedding tears

I wish I had known you these many years.

Well, I will have to go now, God.

Goodbye.

Strange, since I met you, I am not afraid to die.

                                          -Author Unknown

                                          This poem was found on the body of a

                           19 year old American soldier.