Our Soldiers . . . In Case You Didn’t Know!
Heaven Must Need a Hero . . .
A beautiful musical tribute for Memorial Day.
National Holiday and Memorial Day!
I discovered in my Internet musings that just about every day of the year is a National Day of something or other. I think we should start keeping track and celebrate them according to their topic. I mean, what else do busy people have to do all day, right? Since I have been so remiss in sharing this important information with you, I will start with the ‘holidays’ listen for today.
Today, May 23, 2015, we have two options to observe -National Lucky Penny Day or National Taffy Day. I’m thinking that if we can come up with enough lucky pennies, we can afford a piece or two of candy in celebration of National Taffy Day.
May, 24, 2015 has an interesting selection of national observances. There is National Scavenger Hunt Day and National Escargot Day. I suppose you could combine them with the point of the scavenger hunt to be discovering escargot – snails for the less continental among us who prefer to stick to the recognizable fast food menus for that quick snack.
May 25, 2015 included National Brown-Bag It Day, National Tap Dance Day, and National Wine Day. I guess that with enough celebration of National Wine Day, one might be persuaded to done a lampshade and try tap dancing. Too much tipsy tap dancing and wine would give the brown bag a whole other use!
May 25, 2015, this year, is the last Monday in May which commemorate a most important day of observance – Memorial Day. Remember that Memorial Day is not for shopping for bargains, special sales, or elaborate food-laden parties but a day to remember all the people in our military who have been in the armed services of the United States and gave everything they had to provide us with a day off from work!
My father served overseas at the end of World War II. My grandfather ultimately died of untended wounds from a stay in a French prisoner of war camp shortly after the end of World War I. My great-uncle served all over the world until his retirement. My father-in-law was blind in one eye and was not drafted but he begged to be enlisted and served in a stateside job in World War II. Our country has been dealing with serious situations for many years now in the Middle East and, subsequently, we have lost many wonderful, devoted soldiers.
Heavenly Father,
On this Memorial Day, we pray for those who courageously laid down their lives for the cause of freedom. May the examples of their sacrifice inspire in us the selfless love of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bless the families of our fallen troops, and fill their homes and their lives with Your strength and peace.
In union with people of goodwill of every nation, embolden us to answer the call to work for peace and justice, and thus, seek an end to violence and conflict around the globe.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
In Flanders Fields
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.
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Why We Can Celebrate Memorial Day
I imagine that the first thing that will clue you into Monday being a holiday from work and school will be the smell of barbecues firing up. You have to wonder how many people will take time to attend a special service, go to Mass, or observe a moment of silence for our military working for us today, our retired soldiers, and the ones who have died in the service of our country.
My grandfather died as a result of a wound while fighting in World War I. My father was overseas when peace was announced in World War II. My great-uncle retired after many years of service and many months away from home on military duty. My own father died from a service related ailment. How many other families have stories to tell, parents to mourn, and fathers currently overseas helping to protect our freedoms.
That first bite of a delightful barbecue picnic meal comes to us all compliments of men and women who offered so much that we could have a day to celebrate their accomplishments. Let’s not forget this in the joy of the day.
Memorial Day
Poem by Joyce Kilmer . . .
The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings to-day.
The road is rhythmic with the feet
Of men-at-arms who come to pray.
The roses blossom white and red
On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
And martial music cleaves the sky.
Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
They kept the faith and fought the fight.
Through flying lead and crimson steel
They plunged for Freedom and the Right.
May we, their grateful children, learn
Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
At last the accolade of God.
In shining rank on rank arrayed
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace…Who brought a sword.
Beautiful Thought For Memorial Day
A young soldier was in his bunkhouse all alone one Sunday morning. It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn’t made a noise.
The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week. As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.
Just then an Army Sergeant came in and asked, “Why aren’t you with the rest of the platoon?”
The soldier replied, “I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.”
The sergeant said, “Looks like you’re going to play cards.”
The soldier said, “No sir, you see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I’ve decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.”
The sergeant asked in disbelief, “How will you do that?”
“You see the Ace, Sergeant, it reminds that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.
The Three represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Five is for the five virgins, there were ten, but only five of them were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.
The Seven is for the day God rested after working the six days.
The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives, in which God saved the eight people from the flood that destroyed the earth for the first time.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed ten but nine never thanked Him.
The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan. One of God’s first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the Joker of eternal hell.
The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.
The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck, each is a week, 52 weeks in a year.
The four suits represents the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
Each suit has thirteen cards, there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.”
The sergeant just stood there and after a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, “Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?”
Please let this be a reminder and take time to pray for all of our soldiers who are being sent away, putting their lives on the line fighting for us.
Memorial Day Is Not Just a Day Off From Work . . .
General George Patton – Remembering Him on Memorial Day
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army general, best known for his command of the Seventh United States Army, and later the Third United States Army, in the European Theater of World War II. My son and I had the privilege of standing at the foot of General Patton’s grave when we went on a tour of the Battlefields of World War II. It was a brisk, sunny day. As we stood there in honor of the great man, somewhere in the cemetery a group of people suddenly started singing patriotic songs. Almost at the same instance, a 21-gun salute was fired for a fallen soldier whose grave was being visited by a relative for the first time. Time stood still for a moment.
Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from General Patton.
I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.
Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
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