Today the Rising Tide Society team encourages everyone to take some time this Memorial Day to remember those who have given their lives for this country. Thank you to all the men and women who have served, and thank you to their families who have made an equally great sacrifice.
Below is a poem recited by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in a famous Memorial Day speech (1895) :
And when the wind in the tree-tops roared,
The soldier asked from the deep dark grave:
“Did the banner flutter then?”
“Not so, my hero,” the wind replied.
“The fight is done, but the banner won,
Thy comrades of old have borne it hence,
Have borne it in triumph hence.”
Then the soldier spake from the deep dark grave:
“I am content.”
Then he heareth the lovers laughing pass,
and the soldier asks once more:
“Are these not the voices of them that love,
That love–and remember me?”
“Not so, my hero,” the lovers say,
“We are those that remember not;
For the spring has come and the earth has smiled,
And the dead must be forgot.”
Then the soldier spake from the deep dark grave:
“I am content.”
– Unknown Author
