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 the lack of food, wounded from the months of battle
and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family,
surrounded by nothing but death and the carnage of war.
He stands though, with the fire in his eyes and victory on his breath.
He looks at us now in anger and digust and tells us this...
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 freedom to vote
and you stay at home because it rains.
I left my family destitute to give you 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 freedom of the press.
It's the soldier, not the poet, who gives you 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. I ask this in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
In 1980, a staue of three American World War II soldiers was presented to the Academy of the Corps of Cadets by the classes of '35 and '36. It was dedicated "To The American Soldier" and became the first staue at West Point to honor our nation's enlisted personnel.
The nine-foot bronze sculpture was sculpted by Felix de Weldon, who also did the Iwo Jima Statue at Arlington National Cemetary.
