Today, I prepared a sign for the flag that we will fly at our Gratitude Ride on June 14th.  It is a a funeral flag that once draped the coffin of a World War I veteran that passed on in 1980.  A member of The Lost Generation, the things he must've seen... 

I began to think about what that flag on the coffin represents and admittedly, got a little misty.  I am reminded that it is what lies beneath the flag that keeps it flying.  Our flag is so revered, because of what lies beneath.  Those that came and fought before us and fell for the promise of our flag and everything that lies beneath. I've had this poem kicking around in my head for a several days and I managed to get it written down.  This weekend, please remember that we are celebrating the sacrifice of our fallen.  Give them a moment of silence. Send them a prayer of thanks.  Happy Memorial Day, Friends!

With our Gratitude.. 

What Lies Beneath

It is what lies beneath the flag we mourn,
The soldier stilled by duty's final call,
Not glory sought, but purpose weather-worn.

He moved through dusk where shadows rise and fall,
Through fields where silence speaks in solemn breath,
The soldier stilled by duty’s final call.

His oath was iron, forged in fire and death,
No boast in battle, only steadfast tread—
Through fields where silence speaks in solemn breath.

He bore the weight where other men had fled,
Each step a vow, though none may understand,
No boast in battle, only steadfast tread.

No monument can raise a braver stand
Than earth that cradles those who did not yield—
Each step a vow, though none may understand.

And still, his truth lies buried in the field.
It is what lies beneath the flag we mourn—
Than earth that cradles those who did not yield,
Not glory sought, but purpose weather-worn.