This Old Flag
The following is something I picked up on the internet and thought it was worthy of repeating as we celebrate Independence Day.
"That Ragged Old Flag"
I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin' there.
I said, "Your court house is kinda run down,"
He said, "No, it will do for our little town."
I said "Your old flag pole kinda leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag you got hanging on it."
He said "Have a seat", so I sat down.
He said, "Is this your first visit to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is."
He said "I don't like to brag, but we're kinda proud of
"That Ragged Old Flag"
"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
It got powder burned the night Frances Scott Key sat watching it,
writing
"Oh Say Can You See"
It got a rip in New Orleans, with Packingham & Jackson
Tugging at its seams.
It almost fell at the Alamo beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on tho.
It got cut with a sword in Chancellorsville,
Got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on
"That Ragged Old Flag"
On Flanders Field in World War I,
She took a bad hit from a Bertha Gun,
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time that one was through,
She was in Korea, Vietnam, She went where she was sent
By her Uncle Sam.
The Native Americans, The Black, Yellow and White
all shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes.
And here in her own good land,
She's been abused, burned, dishonored, denied and refused,
And the very government for which she stands
Has been scandalized through out the land.
And she's thread bare, and she's wearing kinda thin,
But she's in pretty good shape, for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
And she can take a whole lot more.
So we raise her up every morning
And we bring her down slow every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On second thought
I do like to brag
Cause I'm might proud of
"That Ragged Old Flag"
After I read this I couldn't help but reflect on the kind of country our fore fathers fought for. They didn't ask for a government that would guarantee them healthcare and free education; they didn't ask for a government that would guarantee them a retirement income; they didn't ask for a government that would guarantee them a job or a minimum wage; they didn't ask for a government that would guarantee them wealth and happiness, they only asked for a government that would protect their freedoms and guarantee them the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Can we as a nation get back to that kind of individual responsibility?
Have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend.
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