During the time of the funeral for Jared Southworth that was killed in action, our streets were lined with american flags. Blocks after blocks of flags, which we thought were put there by some group like the VFW. In our last weeks newspaper, there was an article about the flags and that one man was responsible for all of it and he didn't even live here close. He is from Little York, Il, and he does that for all fallen soldiers that he can. He asks permission to do this and if he is allowed, he pays for all his expenses himself and stays in a motel close by. It takes him about 8 hours to set up these flags if local people don't help out.
As I was writing him a thank you letter yesterday- he called me. Me. He had read a poem that I had written and the newspaper here in town had used it last week. He liked the poem and was calling me to ask my permission to use it. He wants to put it on plaques and hand them out to the children of fallen soldiers as he continues his flag mission. To me, its an honor that this man who does all this for the families wanted to use my poem, and I told him he could do whatever he wanted with it.

My Daddy Is A Hero

My daddy is a Hero, he fought in the war.
He‘s with the angels above now, you just can’t see him anymore.

My daddy is a Hero, he decided to make a stand,
He used to write me letters to help me understand.

My daddy is a Hero, he believed in peace and liberty,
Mommy says he’s the kind of person she wants me to grow up to be.

My daddy is a Hero, and even though I’m just a kid,
I’m so very proud of him and everything he did.

My daddy is a Hero, but we’ll never be apart,
He’s not gone forever, he lives inside my heart.

Teresa Stairs-Dennis 19Feb2009