by Scott Shaffer

Created on: June 03, 2008

I stood alone atop the hill
And looked at the flag in the valley below
I watched the sun as it rose once more
I wondered what the future would bestow

I cared not for my own life this day
I cared not for my own health as I watched
I cared only for the fallen and their families
And the memories that on my mind had been locked

I thought of the battles that we fought in those days

The war we supported and the fight for freedoms sake
I wondered if the youth of this country today
Would ever know fully what was then at stake

We came from all over this great big land
And some came from lands across the seas
We fought side by side and together we did stand
As we protected yours and our right to be free

We were farmers and cobblers and gentle folk
We were minutemen and women that would not brag
And it was with gusto and vigor we spoke
As we rallied underneath that newborn flag

We felt the wave of unease pass over us
As we watched our liberties be taxed into dust
And it was in the King's hands our future did lay
It was in his kingdom we were to lay our trust

But we decided that day to call on Betsy Ross
Show us a symbol, sew us a banner, a flag
That would unite these colonies and send shivers down spines
And make every young mans tongue for war wag

The speeches were said and the votes were cast
The armies called up and the citizens cheered
The cost was our blood and our sons and their sons
And when it was all done into our minds the sights seared

George Washington knew that if he could just have a flag
A symbol of unity under which men would fight
He could wage his war against tyranny
He could decide this young, new nations plight

As we all know Betsy Ross did us proud
And the flag that she sewed stands as a monument to all
It inspired a nations anthem making Francis Scott Key cry
And it inspired the pledge of allegiance, an oath to never fall

It has been the sight that many veterans will salute
It is the sight at which homecoming war heroes sob
It is the sight that can infuriate tyranny everywhere
It can quiet congress or incite unruly mobs

It is our flag that flies for freedom sake
And from a humble beginning it was born
So pledge allegiance to that flag on this day
And from our lips will never surrender be torn.

From the tops of roof's and the steeples across the land
This flag flies for freedom, for justice, and for pride
And we gladly place our hands across our heart, or salute
As we say the pledge of allegiance side by side.

So look upon this banner with the pride and praise that it deserves
Let the dictators look at us as they rant, foam, and rave
We shall fly this banner for all our lives
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the Brave.

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