Those who live in comfort, who don’t know the bite of fear and the song of the bullet, don’t understand that kill or be killed is the reality of the battlefield.”
–Colonel Robert W. Black
“They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them…”
–Hebrews 11:37-38a (HCSB)
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MEMORIAL DAY! A day we should all take time to remember, to recall the debt that is owed to this country. Many reading this lost loved ones and friends in the wars of this country. I had several family members who served in Vietnam; one, my uncle died there. I served during that time, but thank the Lord I was stateside during the war. I had a cousin die on the shores of Normandy in 1944, another uncle was severely traumatized by what he saw in the Pacific, so severely that he was hospitalized for many years.
Many Americans will enjoy the day with family and friends with grilling or a barbeque, and that’s all right. It is for those little freedoms that we have that we remember those on Memorial Day. Your celebration is part of that memorial for without the sacrifices of those we wouldn’t be able to enjoy ourselves.
Sacrifice–that is a real part of Memorial Day.
ALL GAVE SOME
SOME GAVE ALL!
This is a day we focus on those who gave their all, but it is not wrong to remember those who gave some. It might be those with PTSD, or wounds (emotional, mental, and physical), those who gave of their time, their dreams, their hopes. Very few were combat soldiers compared to the many who served. Perhaps one of the most poignant statements was made by E. B. Sledge, “If the country is good enough to live in, it’s good enough to fight for. With privilege goes responsibility.” (With the Old Breed) When I look at society today, and then at the words of Sledge all I can do is shake my head. In fact, the other day I thought I felt the tremor of an earthquake, but it was the sound of those who gave all, those who served, rolling over in their graves.
Since I was of the Vietnam era, let me share with you something that was sent to me by a veteran regarding the Vietnam Wall.
There are 58,267 names on the wall.
39,996 were just 22 or younger.
8,282 were 19. 33,103 were 18.
12 were 17 years old.
5 soldiers were 16.
There are 3 sets of fathers and sons on the wall.
31 sets of parents who lost 2 of their sons.
997 were killed their first day.
1,448 were killed on their last day.
8 women were on the wall, nurses.
244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the war and 153 of them are on the wall.
MEMORIAL DAY! A time to remember, a time to honor, a time to evaluate and take inventory. In your time of recalling those who gave their all, do not forget the greatest memorial of all–the CROSS. It was on that old cross where Jesus gave His all for humanity, for you and me. Look at the graves of those who died, and see that there is a cross above it–in remembrance of the One who gave His all for us, His sacrifice was final, and the wonder of wonders, the greatness of it all, He did not remain in the tomb, for He rose and now is interceding for us at the throne of the Father.
MEMORIAL DAY! Remember…!