Laurajean1014
<font color=blue>WISH Biggest Loser/Blue Team<br><
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2001
A protest raged on a courthouse lawn,
> round a makeshift stage they charged on.
> Fifteen hundred or more they say,
> had come to burn the Flag that day.
>
> A boy held up the folded Flag,
> cursed it and called it a dirty rag.
> A man pushed through the angry crowd,
> with an old gun shouldered proud.
>
> His uniform jacket was old and tight,
> he had polished each button, shiny and bright.
> He crossed the stage with military grace,
> until he and the boy stood face to face.
>
> Then the old man broke the silence.
>
> "Freedom of speech, is worth dying for,
> Good men are gone, they live no more.
> All so you can stand on this courthouse lawn,
> and ramble on from dusk to dawn.
>
> But before the Flag gets burned today,
> this old veteran is going to have his say.
>
> My father died on a foreign shore,
> in a war they said would end all wars.
> Tommy and I weren't even full grown,
> before we fought in a war of our own.
> Tommy died on Iwo Jima's beach,
> in the shadow of a hill he couldn't reach.
>
> Where five good men raised this Flag so high,
> that the whole world could see it fly.
>
> I got this bum leg that I still drag,
> fighting for this same old Flag.
>
> There's but one shot in this old gun,
> so now it's time to decide which one.
>
> Which one of you will follow our lead,
> to stand and die for what you believe?"
>
> The boy who had called it a dirty rag,
> handed the veteran the folded Flag.
>
> The crowd got quiet as they walked away,
> to talk about what they heard that day.
>
> So the battle for the Flag this day was won,
> by a loyal veteran with a single gun.
> Who for one last time, had to show to some,
> That these colors will never, never run.
>
> It is the veteran, not the preacher,
> who has given us freedom of religion.
>
> It is the veteran, not the reporter,
> who has given us freedom of the press.
>
> It is the veteran, not the poet,
> who has given us freedom of speech.
>
> It is the veteran, not the campus organizer,
> who has given us freedom to assemble.
>
> It is the veteran, not the lawyer,
> who has given us the right to a fair trial.
>
> It is the veteran, not the politician,
> Who has given us the right to vote.
>
> It is the veteran, who salutes the Flag,
> who serves under the Flag,
> whose coffin is draped by the Flag.
> round a makeshift stage they charged on.
> Fifteen hundred or more they say,
> had come to burn the Flag that day.
>
> A boy held up the folded Flag,
> cursed it and called it a dirty rag.
> A man pushed through the angry crowd,
> with an old gun shouldered proud.
>
> His uniform jacket was old and tight,
> he had polished each button, shiny and bright.
> He crossed the stage with military grace,
> until he and the boy stood face to face.
>
> Then the old man broke the silence.
>
> "Freedom of speech, is worth dying for,
> Good men are gone, they live no more.
> All so you can stand on this courthouse lawn,
> and ramble on from dusk to dawn.
>
> But before the Flag gets burned today,
> this old veteran is going to have his say.
>
> My father died on a foreign shore,
> in a war they said would end all wars.
> Tommy and I weren't even full grown,
> before we fought in a war of our own.
> Tommy died on Iwo Jima's beach,
> in the shadow of a hill he couldn't reach.
>
> Where five good men raised this Flag so high,
> that the whole world could see it fly.
>
> I got this bum leg that I still drag,
> fighting for this same old Flag.
>
> There's but one shot in this old gun,
> so now it's time to decide which one.
>
> Which one of you will follow our lead,
> to stand and die for what you believe?"
>
> The boy who had called it a dirty rag,
> handed the veteran the folded Flag.
>
> The crowd got quiet as they walked away,
> to talk about what they heard that day.
>
> So the battle for the Flag this day was won,
> by a loyal veteran with a single gun.
> Who for one last time, had to show to some,
> That these colors will never, never run.
>
> It is the veteran, not the preacher,
> who has given us freedom of religion.
>
> It is the veteran, not the reporter,
> who has given us freedom of the press.
>
> It is the veteran, not the poet,
> who has given us freedom of speech.
>
> It is the veteran, not the campus organizer,
> who has given us freedom to assemble.
>
> It is the veteran, not the lawyer,
> who has given us the right to a fair trial.
>
> It is the veteran, not the politician,
> Who has given us the right to vote.
>
> It is the veteran, who salutes the Flag,
> who serves under the Flag,
> whose coffin is draped by the Flag.