The most important way we can honor those who have died to preserve our freedom is to live a life worthy of their ultimate sacrifice.
The feature photo at the beginning of this blog is of my husband at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. Notice how it reflects everything.
The Old Testament is full of stories where God instructed people to build a monument to various events that took place. He wants us to remember our past and what sacrifices were made so that we become better people, continually increasing in love, honor, compassion, and respect. It is His desire, no actually His command, that we make time for remembrance, to reflect on what has been done for us so that we are inspired to humbly acknowledge our blessings, to thank God, and to honor all who made sacrifices on our behalf.
Of all the monuments, statues, and historical markers I’ve visited during my lifetime (at least a hundred), this one is my favorite because this powerfully thought-provoking memorial wall is impossible to not take personally.
I consider its designer Maya Lin a genius because you cannot view it without seeing yourself reflected across the names of the soldiers who died, thus putting YOU, the viewer, into its story. And what message is engraved? No words, no editorial, but simply the engraved names of 58,156 soldiers whose lives were lost in the Vietnam War. As you look at it, you see your own image reflected across names of people who gave up their lives for YOU. When you see the names of those who sacrificed themselves to give and keep the freedoms you are enjoying, scrolling across your face as you walk along the length of the wall, your heart is humbled and you spiritually bow with awe, grief, respect, honor, and gratitude. It now becomes personal if it wasn’t before. You see that you can never really be separated from these brothers and sisters who laid down their life for you. It is one thing to have head knowledge of soldiers going to war and dying, and quite another if your life is personally impacted by the loss of a soldier’s life. Suddenly, freedom becomes much more treasured and sacred.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” -John 15:13
The Bible considers nothing else more of an act of love or more sacred than willingly giving your life to save another. Every man and woman who signs up for the military understands that they are putting their life on the line, that they may be one of the many who never come home. Whether they know this scripture or not, their spirit is in tune with it to enable them to make this kind of commitment. For this alone they deserve our respect and gratefulness.
More than 2,000 years ago Jesus laid down his life for you and me.
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
Those of us who are Jesus followers partake of communion regularly because we want every fiber of our being to remember and honor His sacrifice for us; we do it to honor His commandment and His life. Communion is a form of worship to the Most High God, for His gift, for His sacrifice, for His salvation, for His reconciling our lives back to Him and restoring our lives here on earth to be overcomers, living life to the full of what God created us to have and to be.
Part of “living life to the full” is living with a grateful heart, to be mindful of the gifts and privileges that we enjoy, and to give thought to how they came to be, and who made the sacrifice for us. I strongly urge you to spend some of your vacation time visiting some of our national memorials around this great country and allowing Holy Spirit to speak to your heart as you ponder the indescribable sacrifices made by others so that you can enjoy the life you have today.
(After the prayer poem, I have posted a few more memorial photos with descriptions. These are just a handful of my favorites, all of which I have personally visited.)
As our nation formally acknowledges Memorial Day, my prayer is that you will give thought and thanksgiving for the privilege it is to live in the U.S.A., and for the freedoms you enjoy that have been won and continuously secured by men and women who have died for that purpose.
Taking time for remembrance is a form of worship.
With Gratitude and Honor
Gracious God, on this Memorial Day weekend,
we remember and give thanks
for those who have given their lives
in the service of our country.
When the need was greatest,
they stepped forward and did their duty
to defend the freedoms that we enjoy,
and to win the same for others.
O God, you yourself have taught us
that no love is greater than that
which gives itself for another.
These honored dead gave the most precious gift they had,
life itself,
for loved ones and neighbors,
for comrades and country – and for us.
Help us to honor their memory
by caring for the family members
they have left behind,
by ensuring that their wounded comrades
are properly cared for,
by being watchful caretakers of the freedoms
for which they gave their lives,
and by demanding that no other young men and women
follow them to a soldier’s grave
unless the reason is worthy and the cause is just.
Holy One, help us to remember that freedom is not free.
There are times when its cost is, indeed, dear.
Never let us forget those who paid so terrible a price
to ensure that freedom would be our legacy.
Though their names may fade with the passing of generations,
may we never forget what they have done.
Help us to be worthy of their sacrifice,
O God, help us to be worthy.
– J. Veltri, S.J.
This is “Faith, Hope, and Love”, a beautiful sculpture added to Memorial Park in 1993, designed by Glenna Goodacre. It is the likeness of three women soldiers who died in Vietnam to bring attention and honor to the many women who also died fighting that war. Their names are also engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, but not especially designated as women. Many people are unaware that women fought and died there.
The inscribed words say:
Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness. In unmarked graves within this square lie thousands of unknown soldiers of Washington’s army who died of wounds and sickness during the Revolutionary War. The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and efforts of common dangers, sufferings and success. (Washington’s farewell address Sept. 17, 1790)
I am so grateful for those men and all the men and women who have fought and died since then to preserve the freedom I enjoy.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery which honors the fallen in both World Wars, Korea, and Viet Nam. It is guarded 24/7 365 days a year.
Planting the flag at Iwo Jima after the victory in WWII.
Arlington National Cemetery was established during the American Civil War after the land the cemetery was built upon, Arlington Estate, was confiscated from the private ownership of Confederate States Army General Robert E. Lee. The first soldier to be buried in Arlington was Private William Henry Christman of Pennsylvania on May 13, 1864
Arlington National Cemetery, the most famous cemetery in the country, is the final resting place for many of our nation’s greatest heroes, including more than 300,000 veterans of every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan.
This statue of three servicemen who served in the Viet Nam War was added near the Wall of Remembrance in 1984.
John F Kennedy’s eternal flame memorial and gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery. A flame is widely accepted as a symbol of eternal life. An eternal flame at a war memorial symbolizes a nation’s perpetual gratitude towards, and remembrance of, its war dead.
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