American Patriotic Songs - What the Flag Means lyrics

Rob and John were brothers in war.

They charged the beach at Normandy.

Robert fell at Omaha

And Johnny died near Isigny.

You'll find their graves on that faraway shore

They fought to save from tyranny.

And every dawn at reveille

Their banner's raised in victory.

See what freedom costs in each marble cross

And what the flag means to the free.

Henry came from a small river town.

He left his home for Vietnam.

Drawn to the flag of a high ideal,

He fought the war nobody won.

One day he forded a wild jungle stream

And there a sniper shot him down

And his lifeblood joined that sacred will

Our fathers forged on Bunker Hill.

Read it in the names on these granite walls:

What the flag means when you're called.

Michael ran like the wind on the tide.

He knew the race went to the bold.

He gained more speed with every stride

Until his shoes turned into gold.

And when he watched on that gold medal day

Old Glory rise, the Anthem play,

The tears came streaming down his face

When he felt that force beyond the grave.

Every freeman's life sings their sacrifice-

What the flag means to the brave.

Patrick Brown was a Queens fireman.

He captained ladder number three.

He knew the look of the frightened face

That sought the light of liberty.

That day his crew climbed the North Tower stairs

And all our hopes came crashing down,

There he saw that shining face

He'd spent his whole life trying to save.

You know your job is done when your rescue comes

And your life shines like the sun.

Tonight a storm veils a poor widowed world.

Her lonely tears just fall like rain.

A young man wakes from a troubled dream

And hears a hero call his name.

And as he makes that fateful vow

He knows his life is not his own.

And a new hope lights the starry sea

High above the Land of Liberty.

See the million flights of the Stars and Stripes-

What the flag means to the free.