We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we’ve done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works. --- Secretary of State Colin Powell, responding to a question from former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Yet Another Quest My friend, I think I may see, an old warrior’s face, in the twilight, a darker side of thee.
A side that could tell of war’s bloody Hell, an unspoken river that still flows, for you have been there and learned it well.
Is there a quickening in your heart because you know the story so well, for long ago, you chose a soldier's part?
These soldiers you pray for today will return to a grateful America’s open arms, to a Heroes' Welcome that they have earned.
You, and others like you, stand here to ensure that they SHALL be welcomed home with PRIDE, that no sneers will they ever have to endure.
On your face shows fierce pride of these young sisters and brothers - and pain, for the ones who have died.
Thrust your old memories into the night, for there is much to be done; You cannot falter in the coming fight.
The young fight today for freedom, you see, ........and the respect of........ .........Old Soldiers, such as thee..........
