Excerpt from Heart Echoes Of the men who launched our ship of state, Under trials that few could endure. When mine eyes behold the crimson bar, Bright and untarnished it be, I think of the blood of our sires of old, The blood that was shed for me. And the field brings to mind the azure dome, Under which our free land lies, With its mountains and lakes and its prairies broad, And its wealth of treasure mines; Each star brings to mind the travail and pain Thru which each state passed 'ere 'twas born Into a union of hearts and union of hands, A union to which all belong. I think of the mothers who labored, and won 'midst great tribulation and cost, Names that endureth forever and aye, Thru all time, they will never be lost; 'twas their sons who rose up in the might of their right In the days when oppression was nigh, And kept our bright banner, our glorious flag Waving victorious on high. And last, but not least, I am thinking of her, Whose hands our bright banner first wrought, And flung to the breezes, its bright starry folds, Where a blessing from Heaven it caught; And I rejoice that as women, we pledge to the Red, The blood of our sons if need be, To the White, all purity, loyalty, love, To the Blue, all we're ever to be. The flags of our Allies, oh, long may they wave! Their loyalty ever ring true. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.