Today We Remember

We remember those who served.

Some came home,

(Thank you God 

for bringing Dad 

and the husband

home alive.) 

and some rest 

where they fell.

Do you know all the verses

to The Star Spangled Banner?

If not,

I have posted the

1st and 4th stanzas. 

 These 2,

of the 4 written

are my favorites.

To me,

they say it all.

If you are in the US,

  and celebrating

this day off of work,

while you are celebrating,

offer up a toast 

to remember those

who have given their all

 so that we may enjoy

the freedoms

they fought for.

The Star Spangled Banner

By Francis Scott Key 1814

 Oh, say can you see 

by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed 

at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars 

thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched 

were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, 

the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that

  Oh, say does that star-spangled 

banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free 

and the home of the brave?

Oh! thus be it ever, 

when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home

and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace,

may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made 

and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, 

when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto:

"In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner 

in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free 

and the home of the brave!

 Another song that,

when I hear it,

I just have to throw my head back

and sing,

at the top of my lungs.

The story it tells

is the story of my country. 

America the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

 

Signed,

Have a Safe and Sacred Memorial Day