Honoring and Saluting Those Who Have Sacrificed For America

The Moving Wall came to our town this year--that half-size replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall with some 58,000 names on it. So many *more* lives affected in one manner or another...heart-wrenching, I must say. Then there are those dear, aging men of World War II, who are still awaiting completion of a memorial to their sacrifice. And there are the many, many soldiers currently giving of their time and some their lives in our American military. Feelings on wars and veterans and military can run strong amongst us Americans, and those feelings can go in many different directions. At the Moving Wall I heard and saw varying opinions expressed regarding the tragic loss of life represented there--and yet one thing could be agreed upon by all: it is indeed a tragic loss of life.

My husband and I both come from families with many veterans. My husband is a veteran of our Navy. My brothers are veterans of our Marines. My father-in-law is a veteran of our Air Force. My mother-in-law's father marched in the Baton Death March. One of my husband's aunts lost her husband in Vietnam while she was a young bride. We hold all veterans in very high regard because we know what they and their loved ones have sacrificed. We also know that God would have us be loving and compassionate to those who have bravely served, and suffered. Too often our veterans are treated as if the tragedies they've endured are somehow *their* fault--as if they are heartless killing machines who went looking for a war. Yet if you take the time to get to know a veteran--if he can bear to speak of his service time and the effects it had on him and his family--you will learn that they usually were average, everyday citizens like you and me who simply had to serve. Maybe they had to serve because they were drafted. Maybe they had to serve because they believed that America and its people are too great to leave unprotected, undefended, and that honor and loyalty to God and country dictates that one must serve, whatever the consequences. These are people who have been wounded, ever so deeply, whether by shrapnel and bullets, or by emotional scars we shall never see with our eyes. To turn a hard heart and a blind eye to these who so greatly need our love and the love of our Savior, Christ Jesus, is to hurt them, ourselves, and our Lord.

I pray that you will take the time to learn about the sacrifice of veterans and their loved ones, and that you will impress on the hearts of your children what you learn. War is not glorious, it is a horror. But when it happens, and it will always happen in this world, then we all need to reach out to the brave ones who go forth to serve and to protect. Our Lord is looking at each soldier and veteran individually, at their hearts. We must do the same.

An excellent article that I recommend was written by a man who volunteered at one of the sites for the Moving Wall. Please take a moment to read it--"I Came To See My Son's Name."

God bless America...our veterans...and you!



~~VETERAN LINKS~~

The Moving Wall
Dearest Angel - Read the true story of Jim's Aunt Elaine, and of her husband who died in Vietnam. This is a Christian book full of a soldier's letters home and the story of Elaine's deliverance from years of struggling with depression and fear. It gives a clear message of salvation.