The Rusty Gun

A protest raged on a courthouse lawn,
Round a makeshift stage they charged on,
Fifteen hundred or more they say,
Had come to burn a Flag that day.

A boy held up the folded Flag,
Cursed it, and called it a dirty rag.
An OLD MAN pushed through the angry crowd,
With a rusty shotgun shouldered proud.

His uniform jacket was old and tight,
He had polished each button, shiny and bright.
He crossed that stage with a soldier's grace,
Until he and the boy stood face to face.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH; the OLD MAN said,
Is worth dying for, good men are dead,
So you can stand on this courthouse lawn,
And talk us down from dusk to dawn,
But before any Flag gets burned today,
This OLD MAN IS GOING TO HAVE HIS SAY!!

My father died on a foreign shore,
In a war they said would end all war.
But Tommy and I wasn't even full grown,
Before we fought in a war of our own.
And Tommy died on Iwo Jima's beach,
In the shadow of a hill he couldn't quite reach
Where five good men raised this Flag so high,
That the WHOLE DAMN WORLD COULD SEE IT FLY.

I got this bum leg that I still drag,
Fighting for this same old Flag.
Now there's but one shot in this old gun,
So now it's time to decide which one,
Which one of you will follow our lead,
To stand and die for what you believe?
For as sure as there is a rising sun,
You'll burn in Hell 'fore this Flag burns, son.



Now this riot never came to pass.
The crowd got quiet and that can of gas,
Got set aside as they walked away
To talk about what they had heard this day.
And the boy who had called it a dirty rag,
Handed the OLD SOLDIER the folded Flag.
So the battle of the Flag this day was won
By a tired OLD SOLDIER with a rusty gun,
Who for one last time, had to show to some,
THIS FLAG MAY FADE, YET THESE COLORS DON'T RUN.

 

That's always been a favorite of mine. I'll be on the right side.

 

Sadly patriotism like that is dying out. The only ones that seem to care are those that serve.

 

The Greatest Play In Baseball - Rick Monday Saves U.S. Flag

 

I've posted that link on another site too... thanks for that...made my day

 

Hey, thanks for that video. I just showed to the guys here at my unit. I'm also a big Cubs fan so that ones a double winner as far as I'm concerned.

 

it sure is, can thank the gov't for that. we should keep fighting wars and losing friends, family, husbands, wives......and for what? too many lives have been lost in the whole iraq joke.....end it already and bring our troops back home....we ain't proving anything

just the like the vietnam vets, how many of them came back never the same...and no one cares. i have a friend who is a vietnam vet, was there twice, witnessed his flashbacks at work, not cool...a guy dropping to the floor and screaming "take cover"....it's pretty sad

kids ain't as stupid as they look, they tried to sucker me into the marines, no thanks dude...

 

I don't blame government. "The Iraq joke" is no joke. Did you know Saddam intentionally made it look like he had/was acquiring WMD's? Do you know who was on the intelligence committee, and agreed with Bush, when the war started? Do you have any idea how complicated the issue is? Obama is just now finding out.

"Kids" in the military are not stupid. They repair aircraft, operate and repair hi-tech electronics, operate nuclear reactors, etc. Do you have the slightest clue as to what it takes for a submariner to earn his/her dolphins? How about a platoon leader that must make snap decisions that can mean life or death? Do you think that "kids" who are in search and rescue are stupid? I'd be willing to bet that 99.9% of all military can use a computer. How about the general population? Not even close.

In 4 years you can acquire enough experience and training to equal a bachelors degree.

Those "kids" are far from stupid.
Those "kids" make me proud to be an American.

Andy,
Retired military

 

you can think what you want, that's your opinion, just like i stated mine, but i'll damned if i die for an unjust cause. we should just nuke iraq and call it a day.....i took the military asvap testing in high school twice, the 1st the there wasn't enough people present to make it count, so i was promised a weekend at base to take humvees thru the training couse, and i took the test again 99%, i was wanted by the marines to become a mechanic, i was lied to and pretty much harassed about enlisting, i told them no, then again, harassed...no, means no

i ain't gonna potentially ruin my future or end up dead for a stupid piece of paper or for a country that give 2 pisses in the wind for the veterans who's lives are destroyed.....that old saying "a vietnam vet can live in a cardboard box while a draftdodger sleeps in the whitehouse"

 

I've just gotten back from Iraq in Aug... got sent there on a two day notice for a yr. I was doing detainee ops, dealt with all the mortar attacks, chance road side bombs ect... still going through my issues.... Did my deed, but glad to be home....been there got T-shirt....

I've seen both sides with the the people over there....worked out in the gym with two Iraq spec ops guys.. and had to guard people as young as 8... and as old as 80....it's alot more into this than to people is the states think. Yes everyone is intitled to there opinion... but I will say leave a lil room for the stuff that you don't know 100% about....we all have something to learn.......just like i tell the people that complain about the jet noise over where I work.......AT LEAST IS OURS!!!!!

US Navy for 16 years...and still proudly serving