I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge as he holds his musket in his bloody hands.

He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family, surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war.

He stands, though, with fire in his eyes. ... He looks at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this ...

I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it.

I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains ...

It's the soldier, not the preacher, who gave you freedom of religion.

It's the soldier, not the reporter, who gives you freedom of the press.

It's the soldier, not the poet, who gives you freedom of speech.

It's the soldier, not the campus organizer, who allows you to assemble and demonstrate. “It's the soldier, not the lawyer, who gave you a right to a fair trial.

It's the soldier not the politician, who gave you the right to vote.

It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!

Thank God for the sacrifices of those who have died, those who have served, and those who serve us still.