A Soldier's Valentine

(No, I don't have a valentine. No, I'm not looking for one, either. But I've come a long way in that I'll admit that this bears thinking about... :-))

Why do we fight? For glory? For fame? For family? For home? Why do we not throw away our lives in a glorious death in battle against overwhelming odds, indelibly etching our name in the annals of history? Because we fight not for ourselves, but for our home and family and for that person who awaits our return with eager eyes…so let us fight hard and fight well, and if our lives are lost, let them be lost dearly, but let us remember why we fight and wherein lies our glory.

"The heroic serves the pastoral." ~Dr. Hake

"Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden"
From Fiddler's Green
(Traditional, Arrangement Tim O'Brien)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR5zX4nryBc

Pretty fair maid was in her garden,
When a stranger came a-riding by;
He came up to the gate and called her,
Said,"Pretty fair maid, would you be my bride?"

She said,"I've a true love who's in the army,
And he's been gone for seven long years;
And if he's gone for seven years longer,
I'll still be waiting for him here."

"Perhaps he's on some watercourse drowning,
Perhaps he's on some battlefield slain,
Perhaps he's to a fair girl married,
And you may never see him again."

"Well if he's drowned, I hope he's happy,
Or if he's on some battlefield slain;
And if he's to some fair girl married,
I'll love the girl that married him."

He took his hand out of his pocket,
And on his finger he wore a golden ring;
And when she saw that band a-shining,
A brand new song her heart did sing.

And then he threw his arms all around her,
Kisses gave her one, two, three--
Said,"I'm your true and loving soldier
That's come back home to marry thee."

Pretty fair maid was in her garden
When a stranger came a-riding by;
He came up to the gate and called her,
Said "Pretty fair maid, would you be my bride?"