Army.ca's Fallen Comrades

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old

Freedom Is Not Free

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Airman 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 stood out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him,
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many fox holes were soldiers graves?
No freedom is not free.

I heard Taps sound one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugle play,
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times,
Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had covered a coffin,
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children
Of the mothers and the wives.
Of the fathers, sons, and husbands,
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard,
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves at Arlington.
No, Freedom Is Not Free!

- LCDR Kelly Strong, USCG

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Today in Military History

September 4

1886:

Indian Wars: After almost 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo surrenders with his last band of warriors to General Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.

1939:

First RAF attacks on German Navy

1940:

World War II: The USS GREER becomes the first United States ship fired upon by a German submarine in the war, even though the United States is a neutral power. Tension heightens between the two nations as a result.

1944:

World War II: The British 11th Armored Division liberate the city of Antwerp in Belgium.

1945:

World War II: Japanese forces surrender on Wake Island after hearing word of their nation's surrender.

1950:

The "Beetle Bailey" comic strip begins.

1950:

The "Beetle Bailey" comic strip begins.

1951:

The first live transcontinental television broadcast takes place in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.

1967:

Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins - The United States Marines launch a search-and-destroy mission in Quang Nam and Quang Tin Provinces. The ensuing 4-day battle in Que Son Valley kills 114 Americans and 376 North Vietnamese.

476:

Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself King of Italy.

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