Veterans Day

[BILL L]

The American Vet

American Veterans, both young and old
Have in their hearts a story untold
For I know that they wonder "Does anyone care
That I valiantly fought with my friends who died there?"

Our Veterans of War all paid such a great cost
Many were harmed and so many were lost
They fought without question, for our liberty
The right of Americans all to be free.

So thanks for the freedom to run and to play
That I enjoyed through my much younger days.
Thanks for the freedom to learn and to grow
To make my own choices wherever I go

Thanks for the freedom to speak my own mind,
So many are bound and afraid in this time
Yet I have the freedom to choose what I'll be
A freedom that you have secured just for me.

Yes thanks for the freedom, though we'll never meet
I know all you've done to make my life complete
With freedom to dream and to reach for the stars
A right that was won for me by all your scars.

Thanks for the freedom I have every day
To plan and to choose, to worship and pray
To live in a home with my own family
And raise them to know what it means to be free.

I'll always remember the price that you paid
And ask God to bless you through all of your days
I worship Him freely, a right you secured
Through the trials and the battles that you have endured.

And although I have never fought battles of war
There is one thing of which you can always be sure
Through all of my life I will never forget
The debt that I owe
The American Vet




November 1999 copyright - Rita J. Lammers

Feel free to print and hand out.

[cuz]

Very nice poem.

Although I am a Vietnam Vet I still feel the last stanza applies to us old vets:

There is one thing of which you can always be sure
Through all of my life I will never forget
The debt that I owe
The American Vet

In that we owe the young and new vets a debt of gratitude for their keeping the status quo for us.