The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were Treated and Appreciated by their nation.”
–George Washington
“… I am like a man without strength, abandoned among the dead. I am like the slain lying in the grave, whom You no longer remember, and who are cut off from Your care.”
“… I am like a man without strength, abandoned among the dead. I am like the slain lying in the grave, whom You no longer remember, and who are cut off from Your care.”
–Psalm 88:4-5 (HCSB)
——————————————-
In Flanders Fields (John McCrae)
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Veterans Day–the first of our holidays in which we are to be thankful. Without these men and women who served, gave their time, their effort, and many their lives this country would have succumbed years ago. The forces that assail our nation now are as great as they were during the highmark of fascism and communism. New foes, but the same insidious purpose–to bring about the last bastion of freedom. This battle is with ideas, with guns, with terror, and with blood. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao don’t hold a candle to the evil that lurks within the menace of jihadistic Islam. Yet, we have other foes–for the slaughter of infants is within our own country as well. Beware–heed that last stanza.
“Take up our quarrel with the foe…” Don’t be naive–the enemy is real. Don’t be lackadaisical–the enemy lurks to destroy. Don’t be complacent and compromising–you’ll be destroyed along with your family. The torch is yours! Dare you hold it high? How can we break faith, not only with those who sacrificed to keep this country great, but those stalwart men of the faith as well? We must take up the fight, we must hold the torch high, we cannot break faith. If we do, “A million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.” (Gen. Douglas MacArthur)
Whether it has been in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, or the sandbox of Iraq and the Middle East; whether is was upon the steamy jungles of Vietnam, or earlier in the South Pacific, or the frozen hills of Korea; whether is was in the desert of North Africa, the shores of Normandy, the skies or the blue deep–hold the torch, allow those who have gone before to sleep.
This time we are fighting a war, not only with terrorists, and ideal mad jihadists, but with ideas that want to destroy our nation. Destroy it from within, by doing away with the values that have made America great; those based on the holy Scriptures of God’s Word. Destroy it by making a mockery of our founders, by bring in a culture that divides us and slanders the foundational thoughts of our nations. Twisting, turning, misrepresenting those in the past. Again, I say–hold the torch high, it is yours, it is mine. Don’t break the faith.
——————————————-
In Flanders Fields (John McCrae)
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Veterans Day–the first of our holidays in which we are to be thankful. Without these men and women who served, gave their time, their effort, and many their lives this country would have succumbed years ago. The forces that assail our nation now are as great as they were during the highmark of fascism and communism. New foes, but the same insidious purpose–to bring about the last bastion of freedom. This battle is with ideas, with guns, with terror, and with blood. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao don’t hold a candle to the evil that lurks within the menace of jihadistic Islam. Yet, we have other foes–for the slaughter of infants is within our own country as well. Beware–heed that last stanza.
“Take up our quarrel with the foe…” Don’t be naive–the enemy is real. Don’t be lackadaisical–the enemy lurks to destroy. Don’t be complacent and compromising–you’ll be destroyed along with your family. The torch is yours! Dare you hold it high? How can we break faith, not only with those who sacrificed to keep this country great, but those stalwart men of the faith as well? We must take up the fight, we must hold the torch high, we cannot break faith. If we do, “A million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.” (Gen. Douglas MacArthur)
Whether it has been in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, or the sandbox of Iraq and the Middle East; whether is was upon the steamy jungles of Vietnam, or earlier in the South Pacific, or the frozen hills of Korea; whether is was in the desert of North Africa, the shores of Normandy, the skies or the blue deep–hold the torch, allow those who have gone before to sleep.
This time we are fighting a war, not only with terrorists, and ideal mad jihadists, but with ideas that want to destroy our nation. Destroy it from within, by doing away with the values that have made America great; those based on the holy Scriptures of God’s Word. Destroy it by making a mockery of our founders, by bring in a culture that divides us and slanders the foundational thoughts of our nations. Twisting, turning, misrepresenting those in the past. Again, I say–hold the torch high, it is yours, it is mine. Don’t break the faith.