The Ultimate
Sacrifice
Deborah
Venable
© Memorial
Day 2009
They asked
not what their country could do for them, instead,
They raised
their hands and took an oath, and this is what they said:
The path
ahead for me may lie in harm’s way, but I know
Your future
will be safer if I simply choose to go.
They went
away from loved ones to serve in God knows where,
Deprived of
sleep and comfort, immersed in man’s despair.
They saw the
stuff of nightmares, which try the bravest souls,
And coming
home, for them, would be the ultimate of goals.
None went to
die, but hoped to live and bask in lasting peace,
But many
paid the price in blood to give us that new lease
On liberty
and way of life to do the things we choose,
Until the
call comes once again to fight instead of lose.
We have to
set aside a day to honor those we should,
And teach
our children what they did was brave and right and good.
We should be
very well aware our freedom had a price,
The highest paid by those who made the Ultimate Sacrifice.