Giving honor where honor is due

This flag waves and unfurls itself in the wind as it flies outside the home of an American patriot.

This flag is displayed every day of the year, not just on holidays like Memorial Day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July, or Veteran’s Day.

This flag represents not just this great country but all those who have protected it, guarded it, and in many cases, given their lives for it.

This flag proudly hangs from my front porch because my husband is a veteran of U.S. military service.

My husband did not fight in a war during his time in the military, but he most ardently would have given his all for his country had he been given the opportunity to do so.

He is a keen student of history and he strongly believes in the premises this country was founded upon.  He is proud to be an American veteran, and my post today honors him and all those who have served our country.

When I was a youngster, one aspect that denoted Veteran’s Day was the wearing of a red artificial poppy on your lapel.  I remember veterans handed these small brilliantly colored flowers out from the street corners of my hometown.  We wore them proudly to show our support of these brave souls and those who gave their lives to protect our freedom.

Another remembrance of Veteran’s Day, which was also called Armistice Day, was learning and reciting in our school classrooms this well-known poem written during World War I.

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

   “In Flanders fields, the poppies blow

    Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place;  and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

    Scarce heard amid the guns below.

    We are the dead, short days ago,

    We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

    In Flanders fields!

    Take up our quarrel with the foe:

    To you from failing hands, we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

    In Flanders fields!”

Today, Chapter 11, Page 11, in my book called Opportunity, I don’t have a red poppy to wear on my shirt.

But this flag, which adorns my home, and my voice in this blog can honor my husband and his fellow servicemen and women.

Thank you to all our veterans for serving our country and keeping us free.  We owe everything we have to you.  May God bless you and hold you safely in the palm of His hand.

“But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for, Is their monument today, and for aye.” ~ Thomas Dunn English

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