It is the soldier

"Always be patriotic!"  These are my grandfather's emphatic instructions to me, inscribed in a book about American constitutional history he gave to me years ago. 

My grandfather served in the Army from 1948 to 1972.  Both he and my father fought in Vietnam. 

Yesterday I was honored and humbled to stand with friends and neighbors along the procession route to show support and gratitude to the family of Franklin native Spc. Jason Kyle Edens, age 22, who died on April 26, 2012 from wounds sustained in Afghanistan. 

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 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 protestor to burn the flag.
~Father Denis Edward O'Brien M.M. USMC

It was my grandfather who shared this passage with me, and it came to me yesterday as I stood in the hot sun, grateful for the grandfather I was fortunate to have with me for so long and for my dad and his quiet strength.