Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Memorial Day

Lest We Forget…
"We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. ... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic."
Gen. John A. Logan, 1868

This weekend we remember our deceased veterans, persons who have given service and their lives for God and our country. As I walk through a cemetery I often pause at a veteran marker and ponder what war they have been in, whether they died in the line of fire, or made it home to their loved ones safely, or, perhaps, made it home but badly wounded physically, mentally and/or spiritually. As I stop at their graves, I say a little prayer for their souls and thank them for their service. Anyone who has ever visited the Arlington National Cemetery, or the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, would be awed by the shear numbers of deceased veterans. From my family… I am grateful to my grandfather who served in the Army Bushmasters Unit in WWII in the Philippines and to my father who served in the Navy on the USS Shangri-La Carrier during the Korean War. (Both my dad and grandfather are still with us!)

So often we see this three-day weekend in May as the start of summer sun and fun not as the memorial it is. Today let us remember our veterans, both living and deceased. When we meet a veteran today let us embrace them and share their pains and joys of service. Let us pray for an end of war and the beginning of world peace... –God Bless, Holly Clark

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