We're the Land of the Free because of the Brave...

It isn't Memorial Day.  It isn't Veteran's Day.  There is nothing special about today, besides the fact that we are alive, well, and loved.  But I was just thinking the other day, we as Americans take SO much for granted! We are so privileged; we still have so many freedoms that not much of the world has.  

Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears - Celtic Woman

On the first day of January,
Eighteen ninety-two,
They opened Ellis Island and they let
The people through.
And the first to cross the threshold
Of that Isle of Hope and Tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland
Who was all of fifteen years.

[Chorus:]
Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears,
Isle of Freedom, Isle of Fears,
But it's not the Isle you left behind.
That Isle of Hunger, Isle of Pain,
Isle you'll never see again
But the Isle of Home is always on your mind.

In a little bag she carried
All her past and history,
And her dreams for the future
In the Land of Liberty.
And Courage is the passport
When your old world disappears
But there's no future in the past
When you're fifteen years

[Chorus]

When they closed down Ellis Island
In Nineteen Fourty-Three,
Seventeen million people
Had come there for Sanctuary.
And in Springtime when I came here
And I stepped onto it's piers,
I thought of how it must have been
When you're fifteen years.

[Chorus]

 A poem that a friend and I made up for U.S. History is about kind of the same thing:

After two weeks on that wretched boat

We arrive on the Golden Shore.

America, America, we're finally here!

After all this time, its oh, so near!

We arrive at the dock and are taken to the station.

Why do I suddenly feel this fear and frustration?

There are just so many of us, what if we don't make it through?

I just don't know what my family would do...

There's nothing for us in the land we're from.

That's why to America we've decided to come.

Luckily and thankfully, we made it in. 

The smile of my husband and my daughter's broad grin

Made this whole journey worth it in the end.

But alas, it is only the beginning...

We arrive at the apartments and see all the other people.

I think to myself, Why do they look so feeble?

My daughter starts school, but with those only of her kind,

I can only imagine what's going through her mind.

My husband starts his job but works until late.

He says he's just fine, because there's food on our plate.

Although we're separated, We're free!  We're free!

And considering where we came from, that's alright with me.

America does have some problems.  She always has.  That's because people are only human, and no one is perfect.  But America is still the land of the free.  We are the Land of Hope, for SO many other people!  

Now, I don't necessarily agree with our troops being overseas.  I don't necessarily support the war.  But I most certainly appreciate the men and women who are putting their lives on the line for the things that they believe in.  "Many people have died for their beliefs... the courage is in living and suffering fo rwhat you believe in." - Brom, Eragon.  Their have been men who have died for their beliefs overseas... men and women are risking their lives everyday.  That demands our respect.  Even if we don't agree with the cause, we need to recognize the heroes that stand up for their beliefs.

If tomorrow, all I had was gone...

All I'd hoped to see...

And I had to start again

With my friends and family...

I'd thank my lucky stars

To be living here today

'Cause the flag still stands for freedom,

AND THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY!

And I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm free!

And I won't forget the men who died

And gave that right to me.

And I proudly stand up

And defend her still today.

'Cause there ain't no doubt,

I love this land!

God bless the USA!

GOD BLESS THE USA!