Freedom’s Torch

The Torch has been passed from the last generation

To the ones who must bear it today

Through the fear and despair of a new conflagration.

How heavy that burden must weigh.

Through pain and devotion to duty my friends.

Through your blood, and perhaps even more

You will stand and deliver and hope your heart mends

As did all of our fathers before.

When the battles are more than a man can endure

And you watch seeds of death being sewn

There is one burning truth of which you can be sure

We are there, and you are not alone.

We will reach out from Chosin and fill up your heart

With a courage we found in the snow.

We will call from the fields where we all played a part

Where we gave all we had long ago.

From the hills near old Yorktown we will call softly down

We will try hard to show you the way.

From McHenry we'll call, near old Baltimore town

As Old Glory lights up the new day.

From the beaches of Normandy, rainy and cold

To North Africa's cruel burning sun.

We will whisper the names of such battles of old

Where we struggled together as one.

Ticonderoga, Khe Sanh, Belleau Wood

Argonne and the Philippine Sea

So many names that are burned in our hearts

Are now just a faint memory.

What of the victories we've bought with our pain?

Asks each generation that fought.

Will our fight and our sacrifice all be in vain?

Will the efforts and tears be for naught?

And then at the darkest time somehow again.

The young ones will take up the call.

Our hearts fill to bursting with pride, oh but then

They break when we see one just one fall

For the price of our freedom is a stiff one indeed

And we know well the terrible cost.

And we pray that the next generation won't need

To experience all that we've lost.

But we hope that when the time comes for those men

And we know that it will come once more.

That they rise up and answer the call once again

As all those generations before.

Yes, we've all seen it countless times over the years.

How they stand up across this great land

And it washes away all our doubts and our fears

Our country is still in good hands.