| I am a whisper
on the wind, of times past, of places long forgotten, Valleyforge,
Gettysburg, Batan, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Seoul, Saigon, Loas,
Kuwait, Iraqi. I am the heart of countless numbers of scarred
and maimed American veterans, and the soul of the buried unknowns,
I am an integral part of
each white cross in Flanders Field, and I am sealed within each
name on 'The Wall'. I am part of each and every headstone of
every American soldier in every cemetery around the world.
I am deeply enmeshed in
each tiny undiscovered bone fragment of American soldiers, left
behind on foreign soil. I am the unseen shadows, the unheard
voices in those many empty cells that once held my brothers
in unspeakable torture.
I am the unbearable pain
in the hearts of every mother, father, wife, husband, brother
sister, and child, of missing American soldiers from all wars.
I am within each and every teardrop shed by these family members
for their unaccounted for loved ones.
I am the essence of each
and every drop of blood shed in the past or in the future, by
an American soldier in the name of freedom. I am the lifeblood
of the colors of the American flag, blue for my loyalty and
unwavering dedication, white for my steadfastness, and red for
my pride and love of country.
I am the spirit of those
names on the black Granite Wall, of all those unaccounted for
in every war, of those who went away to war as gallant young
men and came back, older than time...OR NOT AT ALL.
God Bless America the land
of the free and the home of the brave...
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