Free Of Conscription
I have grown up free of conscription
Free of compulsory military service
Free from the threat of invasion or conquest.
This was a birthright presented to me
By those who fought to grant me this gift.
My father was one of those who served
With gallant distinction, receiving wounds
Clearing the Scheldt of stubborn occupation,
Liberating the Dutch from years of cruelty,
Starvation, fear, humiliation and woe.
I am the inheritor of that noble gift.
I do not take the sacrifice it cost lightly
Nor do I forget the lives cut short
To bring that precious birthright here
And offer it to me.
