Yesterday, November 11th, was Veterans Day. In another couple of weeks, we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Both of these days are uniquely American in origin. November 11th is also observed in Canada, but it is called Remembrance Day.
Veterans Day is a day dedicated to the brave men and women of the armed forces who have served our country with honor in war and in peace. Originally called Armistice Day, it marked the end of World War I on November 11, 1918 and was declared a national holiday in 1938. In 1954, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day to honor all of America’s veterans.
This coming Monday, November 17th is World Peace Day, a date not commonly observed. This observance was started by Don Morris, using the name “Peaceguy”, to give the common people a way to demonstrate their desire for peace at the grass roots level. The movement calls for one person to change so others may see the change and also change, cascading like a snowball rolling down the mountainside. In observance, people devote the day in prayer for peace all day, and use outward signs by driving with their headlights on and wearing a white ribbon.
I think it is fitting that we spend our devotional time today reflecting on these three dates, Veterans Day, Peace Day and Thanksgiving Day. We need to remember that the freedom and way of life we enjoy has come as a result of the many sacrifices that have been made in the past. We are indebted to the millions of American service men and women, past and present, who have help secure this for us
To be a veteran on Veterans Day, as I am, is to live for a while with memories that never fade. It is to live with troubling thoughts, too. Can the horrors that is war ever be fully disguised by patriotic emotions? I don’t know. All I know is that soldiers share a bond unlike another other.
The name of the Army chaplain escapes me, but I’ve never forgotten the moving story he told a group of us young soldiers one Sunday morning many years ago. Its message seems particularly appropriate in exemplifying the ultimate meaning of the new commandment that Jesus gave us.
During the heat of a World War II battle, a young infantryman was hit and lay dying between two firing lines. When his buddy Dave heard him call for help, Dave started to go to his friend’s aid, but his platoon sergeant held him back. “It would be suicide to go to him,” the sergeant shouted over the gunfire. Then the wounded man cried again. Dave broke away and ran through a hail of bullets to reach his friend. Desperately, he tried to drag his fallen comrade back to safety, but in the process he himself was mortally wounded.
When the shooting halted, the platoon sergeant ran to the two men. The first had already died and Dave had little time left. “Why did you do it?” the sergeant begged in anguish, “I told you not to go.” Dave answered, “He was my friend and I’d do it again.” Then just before he died, he smiled and added, “It was worth it just to hear him tell me when I reached him, “I knew you’d come.” We were trained in the buddy system in World War II, and learned to be friends and care one to another.
Though examples of courage and patriotism, such as this, are worthy of emulating, we must not lose sight of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has set the ultimate example for us to follow.
To that end, let me read a poem written by Maj. Gen. James B. Middleton.
A Soldier's PrayerI was a teenager when I entered World War II. By the time I returned home, I had voted in my first election and have voted in every election since. We had defeated the Axis powers that sought to enslave the free nations of the world. We were invincible. When Communist Russia became the next threat, we stood up to her. When Russia built the Berlin Wall, we countered with the Berlin Airlift. We would not allow Russia to suppress the West German people. When North Korea invaded South Korea, we came to her defense as a United Nations effort. Vietnam badly tarnished our image and resolve.
Lord, bless the wives who grieve alone
And comfort the mothers who mourn their own.
Give solace to the fathers who lost their sons
On foreign shores and in places unknown.
Lord, strengthen the resolve of we who remain
To see that they did not die in vain.
At the time of Vietnam, this didn’t seem to be the America the G.I.s fought, bled and died for. Freedom and pride were badly abused. Young people showed disrespect for authority. Irreverence, rudeness and blatant absence of discipline rule the schools. Bellyaching amid abundance seemed to be the normal pastime. Crime, violence and greed dominated the news. This wasn’t the America I returned to in 1946. In the intervening years, things seemed to become worse with our many questionable foreign policy decisions.
In 1980, I was sent to represent the United States Army at Memorial Day services conducted at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. I was in my mid-50s at the time, nearing mandatory Army retirement. Most of the participants were veterans of World War I; there were a few older G.I.s from World War II. These men were, for the most part old, humped and weary, almost a symbol of a fading America. But as I looked into the eyes of those veterans, gazing at the young people in the audience, young people of varied colors, I saw hope in those eyes with the radiance of victory of bygone years. Through the aging eyes of those veterans, I saw the hope of rebuilding the greatness of America; eyes that had seen battles lost, but wars won. The intervening years have borne this out.
Who can forget the huge fireman clutching a dying baby in the Oklahoma City bombing; missionaries giving love, care and life in remote villages of the world; American Olympic athletes generating honor and inspiration in a depressed world; our diplomats feverishly arbitrating for peace in the world’s hot spots; the countless heroes and heroines of the 9/11 terrorist attacks; our nation responding to natural disasters such as the hurricanes that have befallen our eastern seaboard with annual regularity, and the Tsunami on Christmas day 2004 that killed almost 300,000 people; the man made tragedies of Columbine High School and Nickel Mines Amish School; and closer to home the ravages in recent years of recurring wild fires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and killed numerous fire fighters; our citizens offering lives, food, technology and health to all parts of a dying world.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait, we, along with the support of other democratic nations, rescued her in Operation Desert Storm. We have ended a military struggle under the banner of NATO to protect the people of Kosovo from genocide. The world is now facing a similar situation in the Congo. Many question the wisdom of our nation’s current military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, as indicated by the election results of last week, but there is no question as to our resolve in answer to humanitarian needs wherever they may occur. Only history will provide us with the answer of whether we are doing the right things in dealing with this current situation.
Within our own shores, we are engaged in fighting a war of internal ills. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t read about corporate corruption that has resulted in the loss of lifetime savings by investors, real estate foreclosures caused by unscrupulous lending practices, bank failures brought about by lack of Congressional oversight necessitating federal takeovers. Even closer to home we still have daily reports of police brutality on the heels of the still smoldering Rampart Police Station scandal. Our school system is failing to give our children the needed tools to cope with the challenges of tomorrow while spending money to build gilded new campuses. Although some of these battles seem lost, we must have hope. I believe America will win, if only our people will remember.
When I get downcast about the direction our country is going, I remember what I saw in the eyes of those aging veterans that Memorial Day over a quarter century ago and thank God for all the young people who do not make the front pages of our newspapers as part of our nation’s problems, but who will be the unsung heroes of tomorrow, the real spirit of America.
On Thanksgiving Day, 2008, for what will you be thankful? Your faith, your family, your freedom are all, no doubt, high on your list. How about all the helping hands that have brought you this far, the hands that lifted you up when you were down, that someone who took the time to listen to you, all the unknown persons who gave you a smile with a “Have a good day.” We need to be reminded that Thanksgiving is a heart felt attitude that can only multiply in blessing…both for the giver and the receiver.
Carl Sandburg said, “I see America, not in the setting sun of a black night of despair…I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the burning creative hand of God.”
“This is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” God bless America!
Closing Prayer: We thank Thee, O God, for our country, formed on the principles of orderly liberty, realizing that it can be perpetuated only if, in the hearts of its people, there dwells a keen sense of righteousness and justice. Grant that this spirit may grow in the hearts of all of us. May our souls be ever inclined toward the virtues that tell of gentleness and kindness, of loving-kindness and forbearance toward one another? Help us to live a life of love, patience, courage and fortitude so we may rise to the level of the image in which Thou hast created us. Amen.
