Don't Tread On Me

TAPS - A PRAYER IN MUSIC

Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land. 

During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment. 

When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead. The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army. 

The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted. The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. 

The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician. 

The Captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth's uniform. 

This wish was granted. The haunting melody, we now know as "Taps" used at military funerals, was born.

"When you go home,
Tell them of us and say,
For their tomorrow,
We gave our today. 

The Kohima Epitaph

In 1921, an American Soldier- his name "known but to God" was buried on a Virginia hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington. 

The Arlington National Cemetery burial site of this unknown World War I soldier became the personification of dignity and reverence for America's veterans.
Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France where an "unknown soldier" was buried in each nation's highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe).

These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I hostilities at 11a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11month). The day became known as "Armistice Day."
Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar Congressional action.

If the idealistic hope had been realized that World War I was "The War to end all wars," November 11 might still be called Armistice Day. But shortly after the holiday was proclaimed, World War II broke out in Europe and shattered the dream. Sixteen and one-half million Americans took part. Four hundred and six thousand died. 

The families and friends of these dead longed for a way to honor their memory. Congress, therefore, enacted legislation (Public Law 94-97) which returned the observance of this special day to its traditional date beginning in 1978.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well; Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh. 

What ever we have. Who ever we are. We owe or very freedoms to those who fought in wars. To those who died and to those who lived and live today - some in the streets in cardboard boxes. 

No where to call home. No help or care. This is the shame we, whom they fought for, must bare. We can ignore the truth, yet the truth will save the soldier's soul. 

We take better care of the evil doers in prisons than our heros, of our pets, than those who lived through hell and the vulgarly rich are revered more than our brave young men and women who gave their lives and those who are living in our streets...

There's a wall of marble
Five hundred feet long
Ten feet high, scribed with names
Of those who died, the strong. 

There's more than fifty-eight thousand
Etched upon that stone 
Most of them died so young
This life, they've never known. 

It's such a small tribute
To those who fought our war
Such a small price we pay
To those who gave much more. 

Their name carved in a rock
That most of us won't read
Not near enough praise to give
For their most gracious deed. 

Seems there's too many of us
Who don't really seem to care
That we stayed home secure and safe
While they died over there. 

Remember when you see that Wall
With all those initials and names
That those men were only pawns
In one more of those deadly games. 

Let's hope what they gave had meaning And that peace will always reign -
That we won't have to send our young
To fight and die again. 

Here rests in honored 
glory an American soldier 
known but to God.

U.S. Air Force 

U.S. Army 

U.S. Navy 

U. S. Marine Corps

U.S. Coast Guard 

National Guard

---

Who is the Unknown Soldier? Father of a boy in North Carolina, son of a woman in Vermont, brother of a man in California, husband of a woman in Kansas - the list could go on forever for those who have lost their loved ones and who still today do not know where they lie.

At Arlington National Cemetery, a tomb of an unknown soldier for every war in American History can be found with the exception of one from the American Revolution. The official Tomb of the Unknown for the American Revolution is located in Alexandria, Virginia, in the burial grounds of the Presbyterian Meeting House.

The most famous Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located on the East Plaza of the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. There lies an unknown soldier from the wars and conflicts of the 20th century: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

My dedication to this sacred duty
Is total and wholehearted In the responsibility bestowed on me. Never will I falter And with dignity and perseverance 

My standard will remain perfection.
Through the years of diligence and praise
And the discomfort of the elements I will walk my tour in humble reverence. To the best of my ability. It is he who commands the respect I protect. 

His bravery that made us so proud. Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day. Alone in the thoughtful peace of night This soldier will in honored Glory rest Under my eternal vigilance. 

"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 the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."

Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC

This tribute was created with loving care by Bobbette Madonna in the memory of her beloved father, Robert W. Sparks, a wonderful husband, kind and good father, a child of God and friend to everyone and a WWII vet. 

Dad taught me about a soldier's heart.
He now rests in the love of Jesus Christ.