As we remember on this Memorial Day weekend…
FREEDOM ISN’T FREE
I lost my life at Valley Forge my hand froze to my gun
I was but still a lad my life had just begun
Because we chose to bravely fight and die for liberty
Our great nation did emerge
Freedom isn’t free
It was spring at Chancelorsville I fought in a field stained red
We rallied against the foe while around us lay the dead
I lost my life that fateful day in 1863
To right the wrong and unite our land
Freedom isn’t free
Poppies grow in Flanders Field, their numbers rival the dead
Each bloom denotes a life cut short this field is now their bed
Men fought in this foreign land from homes across the sea
They gave their lives for their beliefs
Freedom isn’t free
The sun shines on fields at Normandy with crosses overgrown
Gleaming white among the rows stands mine with the word “UNKNOWN”
My name is lost my face forgot I died for lives yet to be
That you might live in this great land
Freedom isn’t free
They fought in trenches cold and damp in deserts hot and dry
In jungles dense they thought of home, as they were about to die
Our flag still waves above our land because of men like these
We can’t forget their sacrifice
Freedom isn’t free
For generations they’ve stepped forth, left home and family
Some served on land, some in air and some served on the sea
They pledged to preserve, protect and defend our sacred liberty
So evil would fail and right prevail
Freedom isn’t free
Sue Ikerd 2003
Copyright 2003 ©