Courtesy of Rick Bias

Rick Bias was a reader kind enough to share this incredible poem called "Freedom is Never Free" by posting it in the comments section of my last post. I know that not everyone takes the time to read the comments section. Many only glance through the posts, especially if it is their first visit. So I've decided to share this with all of you, courtesy of Rick.
Rick is a veteran of the U.S. Army. (1975-1986)
Thank you Rick.


FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE

I watched the flag pass by one day, it fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it, and then he stood "At ease."
I looked at him in uniform, so young, so tall, so proud;
With hair cut square, and eyes alert, he'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought, "How many men like him have fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil; how many mothers' tears?"
"How many pilots shot down, how many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?"No, Freedom isn't free!
I heard the sound of "Taps" one night, when everything was still;
I listened to the bugler play, and felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times that "Taps" had meant "Amen",
When a flag had draped a coffin of a Brother or a Friend.
I thought of all the children, of the mothers and the wives,
Of, Fathers, Sons and Husbands, with interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard, at the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington,No, Freedom isn't free!

Anonymous