Welcome.

You are fallen

But not forgotten.

I pause with purpose today

In honor of you,

To remember you,

To thank you.

I, too, had the high privilege,

To don my country’s uniform,

To wield a weapon in her defense,

To care for her wounded,

To step foot on foreign soil,

To feel the pounding of my heart when danger lurked,

When our faithful Old Glory flew,

As the sky roared with American supremacy.

But living, I came home.

And you did not.

I twice stood in a reverential stance and watched your casket pass by.

Once loaded on a plane to be flown to weeping ones

And once in the arid street of Afghanistan.

There you were – breathless but beautiful.

She – with her lovely stripes of your blood,

And she – with her blue background showcasing your vigilance and her justice,

And she – with her white stars and white stripes, heralding the purity of the cause of the colonists,

There she lay

Draped over your lifeless form inside the wooden casket.

And there I stood, tears falling.

For you.

For your mama and papa.

For your hopes cut short, your life hardly lived.

I am honored to salute you.

Perhaps you didn’t really understand.

But the country you loved asked it of you.

Of your own accord, you went.

You knew there was a cost.

You weighed the matter.

You choose war.

And that means I am still more free than most.

God be thanked first.

But you second.

Thank you, unnamed soldier.

Today I bow both my head and my knee.

Unnamed soldier,

I remember you.

I salute you.

I honor you.

I thank you.

I love you.