Memorial Day

JOHN 15.13 says “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends”.

This Memorial Day for me is filled with the remembrance of fallen comrades. I for one can do a roll call in my mind of soldiers that never came home. I wonder what their families are planning this weekend. I’m guessing somewhere on the itinerary there will be a trip to the cemetery. Will they be celebrating a 3 day weekend or wishing their soldier was home with them even if for just a minute? Will there be an empty place setting at the table where their deceased soldier would have sat?

Being a soldier isn’t easy by any means but being a soldier’s wife, husband, parents, family or significant other is definitely the hardest job there is. Imagine watching the news and learning that another American soldiers lost their life today in the very land your soldier now calls “home”. Would your hands tremble as you answer the phone? Would your heart skip a beat when your door bell rings in the wee hours of the morning? Do you think a few gray hairs might be added to the inventory until finally hearing the words “I’m OK”.

Men and women serving our country say good bye and hope they will see their loved ones again. Some say good bye knowing that Grandma, Grandpa, Mom or Dad will not be alive when they return. Others have said good bye unaware that the next time they touch American soil they will be in a Flag covered coffin.

Inevitably birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, reunions, first dates, first steps, and father daughter dances will be missed but not forgotten. Some of the guys deploying such as my nephew are expecting. His hope is to be home on leave when their child is born. During my deployment more than one dad watched the birth of their child utilizing a web cam. Things have changed since the World Wars then again there is nothing that can replace the wishing you were there feeling when your spouse needs you the most.

Putting the above thoughts into words reveals from within me mixed emotions this Memorial Day. I would love to be like some and ponder trivialities such as what adult beverages to serve or choice of meat for the grill. Instead many of my kids (soldiers) are going back across the pond as part of their patriotic duty. For some it will be their first deployment, others are experiencing second, third and in some case fourth deployments. I would like to say it’s my time to sit back and wave as the kids climb aboard the transport planes, but I would be lying. A big part of me will be going with them.

I spent over 30 years taking care of my kids and anticipating their needs. Blood, sweat and tears are just a few of the words I have used to describe a soldier’s life. There are 7 Army values that are the key ingredients of a US soldier. Many of you know what the words below mean.

Loyalty
Duty
Respect
Selfless Service
Honor
Integrity
Personal Courage

How often do you see someone actually live up to these sacred standards? Soldiers learn these values in detail during Basic Combat Training, and continue to live them in all aspects of daily life - whether on the job or off.

Men and women everywhere are serving their country whether it as a law enforcement, firefighters, or the military. So many are serving to say that they stepped up when the going got rough, that they served so others wouldn’t have to. For me I served in hopes my kids would never know the tragedy of war. I was wrong, my kids, nephews, and nieces are now following in my footsteps of me and my forefathers.

President Abraham Lincoln’s words below are pretty powerful. The words spoken so eloquently years ago remain true today.

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

As you celebrate this Memorial Day weekend take a moment to remember those Soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice. Remember that a large number of Minnesota soldiers are serving in or are on their way to the sand box (while you sleep in your comfy bed tonight). I ask that when the flag goes by you this Memorial Day that you stand a little taller, take your hat off, place your hand on your heart and give thanks to those that selflessly serve so you have the freedom you enjoy today.

That is all,

Dave

P.S. Just remember to the world they may have only been one person. To the one person they may have been the world. May all my fallen brothers and sisters rest in peace in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit Amen!