IN FAITH
REFLECTIONS ON MEMORIAL DAY
As a boy growing up I spent many hours at my grandmother’s house. Part of that experience was learning about my family. I particularly liked talking with her about the photographs, which she kept in places of honor on her walls: those of my parents, and of my uncle and aunt, and others in our family.
As I looked at the photographs, I discovered that my uncle served in the Army Air Corps in the Second World War and also Korea. He was an instructor in heavy bombers, B-17’s and B-24’s. He did not see combat. But, he taught others how to fly those aircraft. And it was the brave crews of those aircraft who played an important part in helping to end the Second World War. I remember seeing him in a picture in a leather flight helmet, with goggles pushed up on his forehead, and wearing a fleece lined flight jacket, with a smile on his face. My uncle’s name was Myron. He was a first lieutenant.
It wasn’t until I was much older that I appreciated what Myron and others who defended freedom in the Second World War did: They saved the world from tyranny. My mother, whose name was Mildred (Millie, to her friends), worked in a defense plant during that war. She welded ammunition racks into M-4 Sherman tanks. That may seem like a small thing, but it was not. Many “small things” add up to very big things!
No one wants war. It is not the best way of conducting foreign policy. We would all prefer diplomatic ways of resolving international tensions or conflicts. Sometimes they do succeed. Sometimes they do not. True tyrants often don’t seem to understand diplomacy, but may understand force.
I would invite you over this approaching Memorial Day holiday, to look at the photographs in your home or in your grandparents’ home, and to talk with relatives who have served in the United States military. Listen to their stories. You will discover that none of them wanted to take life, and that for them war was not glorious. You will also discover the true cost of freedom.
So, if you value driving from state to state in the United States, and not having to show guards at borders your papers, or if you are not afraid to speak out about subjects in newspapers or in other arenas (due to rights guaranteed to you by the United States Constitution), remember, that it is our veterans who have defended that Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. So, if you value your freedom, thank a veteran! I do and I did.
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