help me find this poem

[maple_leaf_eh]

Yes, I have a literary side. I can't remember this poem, even badly.

" ... It wasn't the journalist who gave you free speech,
It wasn't the preacher who let you pray ..."

A US poet wrote about a dozen lines that ends up saying that soldiers give society the things it cherishes, free speech, religion, protest, etc.

[wim sikkelbein]

this one perhaps:

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.


website:
http://www.iwvpa.net/provincecm/

[maple_leaf_eh]

That's it!