I AM AN AMERICAN SOLDIER

BY DON KENTON HENRY

I am and have been on watch eleven score and seventeen years

Only my uniform has changed

I am the one who twice saved the world

I halt quests to exchange your freedom for oppression, the color of your skin for theirs –

Your religion for their own

I keep my promises and my pledges … to allies, comrades, and detractors

The only freedoms you have are the ones for which I fought – Not your lawyer, politician or policeman – whose job is only to enforce what I provide

My shift does not end

I protect those too young to fight; too old to fight; too weak to fight and too afraid to fight

I fight for right of those who choose not to fight

I fight for those who love me, those who respect me, those who honor me, those who disparage me and those who pretend to have no need of me

I keep you safe to vote, to speak, to have, to own, to love who you wish and to rise above your beginnings

I allow you and the child you tuck in bed at night to sleep and dream free of the real horrors of the world from which I protect you

I give my blood and take that of your enemies so that your hands remain clean

My duty is to see the wolf at the door shall not abrogate the security you embrace

I am your sheepdog

I am an American Soldier