(This poem has been credited to the following: Father Dennis Edward O'Brien and Charles M. Province.)

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag.

HOW MANY AMERICANS HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES AT WAR?

If my math is correct, over 1,150,243 Americans of every race, color, and creed have died in wars over the last 214 years.

DEATH TOLL

-American Revolution (1775-83) - 6188 died

-War of 1812 (1812-14) - 4,505 died

-Mexican War (1846-48) - 4,152 died

-American Civil War (1861-65) - 498,332 died on both sides

-Spanish American War (1899-1902) - 2,445 died

-W.W.I (1914-18) - 116,516 died

-W.W.II (1939-45) - 405,399 died (The war didn't officially start until 1941, but our guys were in England on a volunteer basis.)

-Korean (1950-53) - 54,246 died

-Vietnam (1961-75) - 58,167 died 2,266 MIA

-Persian Gulf War (Jan 16- Mar 3, 1991) - 293 died 19 MIA

(I don't have any numbers on Cuba 1969, Grenada 1983, or Panama 1989.) God Bless America!!!!