I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at
Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody hands.
>
>He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from
months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his
family surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war.
>
>He stands tough, with fire in his eyes and victory on his breath. He looks
at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this...
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>I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your
children graduate too illiterate to read it. I fought in the snow barefoot
to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains.
>
>I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain
silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business.
>
>I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you and it has
stolen democracy from the people.
>
>It's the soldier not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press.
>
>It's the soldier not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech.
>
>It's the soldier not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate.
>
>It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is
draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!!!
>
>"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect
us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us
in our time of need. Amen."