Bedtime Prayers and Memories

  When we go to sleep tonight,
  so many worlds apart,
  keep me in your bedtime prayers
  and my memories in your heart.

  Know that you are safe and sound
  and the enemy is far away.
  He hit us once when we weren't looking,
  so now I watch him every day.

  Some of you don't understand who I am
  or why I do what I do
  Some don't understand the sacrifices I've made,
  protecting the red, white and blue.

  I am the Army, I am the Navy, I am the Air Force,
  and the Marines.
  I obey the orders of Uncle Sam, my king,
  and protect the Statue of Liberty, my queen.

  When I hear our National Anthem,
  a tear may fall from my eye.
  It is from pride welling up in my heart,
  or for a fellow soldier, who died.

  I am an American Solider.
  This is the life I choose to live.
  For every Christmas, or birthday I'm away,
  freedom is the gift I will give.

  Thank you for your love and support,
  for the yellow ribbons that I see.
  Thank you for the sacrifices you have made
  and for always believing in me.

  Someday the world will be a safer place
  and I will know I did my part,
  but I couldn't have done it
  without your bedtime prayers,
  or my memories in your heart.

  Keith Anthony Vonnohme, Sergeant
 U.S. Army, serving in Afghanistan