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Open Poetry #38
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LAND OF THE FREE
| Open Poetry #38 |
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LAND OF THE FREE |
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Abe Senior Member
since 2003-05-28
Posts 694Looks like Vero Beach, FL until the end! 
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THE LAND OF THE FREE On Independence Day this year We’ll wave our Flag, salute and cheer We’ll thank all those who’ve gone before And those today, we send to War. We’ll think about what Freedom’s cost Those who fought and those we lost We’ll stand tall and proud and say, “I’m glad I’m from the USA!” Since it was signed in Seventy-six There’s some who’ve tried some dirty tricks To change they way those words are read To change it to their way, instead. It has withstood the test of time Protected Rights of yours and mine It checks and balances those things Heard when the sound of Freedom rings. But hear me loud and hear me clear There are still those we need to fear Who would take those Rights away Little by little and day by day. Don’t let anyone try to change The way we live or rearrange The American way of life we know Born, two hundred thirty years ago. For, once it starts to slip away There’ll be no Independence Day And too late we’ll look and see We’re not “The Land of the Free!” 06-29-2006 Del "Abe" Jones Mankind's greatest accomplishment is not the revolution of technology, it is the evolution of creativity. Read this and then click the link below) The elderly parking lot attendant wasn't in a good mood! Neither was Sam Bierstock. It was around 1 a.m., and Bierstock, a Delray Beach, FL eye doctor, business consultant, corporate speaker and musician, was bone tired after appearing at an event. He pulled up in his car, and the parking attendant began to speak. "I took two bullets for this country and look what I'm doing," he said bitterly. At first, Bierstock didn't know what to say to the World War II veteran. But he rolled down his window and told the man, "Really, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you." Then the old soldier began to cry. "That really got to me," Bierstock says. Cut to today. Bierstock, 58, and John Melnick, 54, of Pompano Beach and a member of Bierstock's band, Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Band, have written a song inspired by that old soldier in the airport parking lot. The mournful "Before You Go" does more than salute those who fought in WWII. It encourages people to go out of their way to thank the aging warriors before they die. "If we had lost that particular war, our whole way of life would have been shot," says Bierstock, who plays harmonica. "The WW II soldiers are now dying at the rate of about 2,000 every day. I thought we needed to thank them." The song is striking a chord. Within four days of Bierstock placing it on the Web , the song and accompanying photo essay have bounced around nine countries, producing tears and heartfelt thanks from veterans, their sons and daughters and grandchildren. "It made me cry," wrote one veteran's son. Another sent an e-mail saying that only after his father consumed several glasses of wine would he discuss "the unspeakable horrors" he and other soldiers had witnessed in places such as Anzio, Iwo Jima, Bataan and Omaha Beach. "I can never thank them enough," the son wrote. "Thank you for thinking about them." Bierstock and Melnick thought about shipping it off to a professional singer, maybe a Lee Greenwood type, but because time was running out for so many veterans, they decided it was best to release it quickly, for free, on the Web. They've sent the song to Sen. John McCain and others in Washington. Already they have been invited to perform it in Houston for a Veterans Day tribute - this after just a few days on the Web. They hope every veteran in America gets a chance to hear it. God Bless EVERY veteran and THANK YOU to those of you veterans who may receive this ! Click the link below to hear the song and see the pictures and then share it and send it to everyone you know!: go to http://www.beforeyougo.us some old ones THE WWII MEMORIAL It’s been a long time coming And it is way overdue This Memorial to Honor Heroes Who died during World War II. On the Mall in Washington There’s a curving Wall of Stars Marking four hundred thousand Dead Plus those Survivors healing scars. Sixteen million Served In all the Military ways With only four million left And most, with numbered days. Most Americans today Don’t know how close we came To the tides turning against us But for, those Battles in our name. A Tribute we owe all Those Who paid the Ultimate Price And it’s better late than never To Honor their Supreme Sacrifice. So many of those Veterans say That was the last, ”Military War” The clear danger to our Nation Was what, They were fighting for. Now, They will never be forgotten Immortalized within that Stone Gathered together in one place So They will never be alone. AND, PROUD TO BE Two hundred and twenty-nine years After we planted Freedom’s seed After our Country’s Declaration This World still has a great need. Time for the Peoples of all Nations To learn what we have always known Since the very first and Proud day Our Stars and Stripes were flown. But, we can’t force Freedom on them For if we do, it won’t be Real It’s something that must grow on you To change the way you Think and Feel. We can only try to show them how And be an Example they can follow Stand up against those in our own Ranks Who try to take Freedom’s we know. We must show we have the Courage To not let our own people take away Any of those Rights so Guaranteed To us, on that long past, July day. We must Protect our Way of Life And let the rest of the World see That it’s something to be Proud of When you live in a Land of the Free. 06-30-2005 INDEPENDENCE DAY In the year of 1776 That paper was decreed - They were tired of oppression And wanted to be freed . They wrote a Declaration So the whole world would see This was, "the home of the brave And the land of the free". They signed that piece of parchment The leaders of this land Knowing, divided they would fall But, together they could stand. A new world lay before them Untamed from shore to shore - They swore the would protect it If it meant going to war. Battles have been fought And many lives have been lost - So sad something so basic Has such a high, high cost. Seems freedom is a luxury There's some would bind us all - Like then, together, we can stand But divided, we will fall. More than two hundred years Have past by since that day That each of us celebrate In our own different way. We should be proud and thankful Pay a share of the cost - Not take freedom for granted For it easily could be lost. JULY THE FOURTH, TWO THOUSAND TWO I wonder what those folks would think (Those, who wrote our Freedom’s Declaration) Would they believe, those happenings That have, forever changed our Nation. Would they believe, some terrorists Are, from our Country, homegrown Spreading hate, death, and destruction In the Homeland of their own. Would they believe our “open door” Has ushered in our enemy Those who believe we’re evil And don’t believe in Liberty. What would they think, if they could see Crime running rampant, in the street Guns, drugs, and homeless people And so many more, locked-in, retreat. Would they believe, Freedoms treasured Have been twisted all around To where the criminals civil rights Beat the victims, to the ground. Would they believe, that businesses Most of them, big and small Treat their employees as the pawns To reach, “the bottom line”, that’s all. Would they believe, those voted to Office Who we should trust, to guide the way Can’t be trusted, most of the time To live up to what, they say. What would they think, would they rewrite And would they take exceptance To what we did, with what they wrote In The Declaration Of Independence. [This message has been edited by Abe (06-29-2006 03:37 PM).] |
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| © Copyright 2006 Del - All Rights Reserved | |||
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JL Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128Texas, USA |
"For, once it starts to slip away There’ll be no Independence Day And too late we’ll look and see We’re not “The Land of the Free!”"  True... Great write Abe. JL  Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: |
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Marge Tindal 
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
Abe~ A commendable piece of patriotism for sure~ One thing is for sure with wisdom at the forefront we will always be the home of the brave the land of the free~ *Huglets*  ~*Marge*~ ~*The sound of a kiss is not as strong as that of a cannon, but it's echo endures much longer*~ Email - [email protected] |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
Nice....James |
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