Remember
Jonathan Pait
May 24, 2002
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Here is a tribute from the Editor:
See them in the night--the watch fires of a hundred circling camps. The flames flicker sending light across the furrowed brows of soldiers who quietly clean their weapons. There is a Continental soldier keeping his powder dry. At another encampment we see brothers, one in blue and the other gray. They have seen our nation divided. Yet, the courage and fighting spirit of both North and South comes together as one to remind us from what stock we come.
Mexico, Cuba, Europe, the Pacific Islands, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Panama, Kuwait—the fires grow brighter. The night does not seem so dark, though the night is silent. They do not speak to us with words. They only look to us through the misty veil of time and their eyes seem to say, "Remember."
Our fathers had courage to face the crisis of their times. That courage even called for the greatest of sacrifices. It did not deter them from doing what was right. They built the legacy of freedom in this nation by limiting their own with death and rigors of the battlefield. "Remember," the eyes say and encourage us to move to meet the crisis of our time.
We look closer and see more flames begin to rise in the night. The radiance of the campfires illuminates the sky. Not all can face the battle with weapon in hand. These flames allow us to see back in time to mothers on their knees in prayer for their sons and the nation they serve. Strong-armed workers stand with tools in hand longing to ramp up the productive might of our nation.
They must be remembered. These who have been mourned in times past demand it. Those who lost their lives in the Towers deserve it. "Oh, say can you see, by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous night, 'ore the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming."
Raise the flag, America. Do not listen to those who would berate you as arrogant and prideful for raising her high. We do not raise it for ourselves. We raise it for them. Our cause is just. Our fight is right. "Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, 'ore the land of free and the home of the brave."
The light of the fires is swallowed in the light of a new day. The visions disappear, leaving us to chart our own path. Raise the flag, America, and nail it to the pole, and never forget.
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