Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Old soldiers cry when alone in the night for the hurt never leaves. By the summer of 1967, our unit, the 199th Light Infantry, had suffered a number of causalities decreasing our strength by about a quarter. Our first replacements began arriving; among them was Private Locklear. Private Locklear was a Lumbee Indian from Robeson County North Carolina. He had finished high school, turned eighteen and been drafted. In the Army less than six months, he had finished both basic training and infantry training, had a couple of weeks of leave and then was send to Vietnam. He was a handsome muscular man standing more than six feet four, maybe six five. The tenth day in our unit, Private Locklear lost his life. He would never have a wife, never have a family, and never know the joy of having grandchildren. His Mother, Father and family suddenly had a huge hole in their lives.

Private Locklear is one of the 1.2 million men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation. They were real people but remain mostly anonymous usually with nothing more than a stone slab to mark their burial place. Who were they? They were young men and women whose lives were just beginning to bloom but, because of their loyalty to our Nation, lost their lives.

Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Today, our nation mourns the loss of all Americans who died defending our country throughout the world since 1775. This remembrance is all-inclusive spanning 248 years and some 62 military actions that claimed 1.2 million lives. Most Americans are familiar with the major wars, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan, but few think of those killed in lesser-known engagements.

Examples of the lesser-known actions range from the Franco-American Naval War (1798-1800) to Grenada to the tragedy of the USS Cole (2000) to the recent death in The Philippines. No American death is too insignificant not to remember when that a life was lost at the behest of society. GI's do not choose when or where they serve or what foreign policy they must enforce. The death of a sailor in the Persian Gulf is every bit as important as one in the Pacific during WWII. All distinctions are irrelevant.

These men and women have remained mostly anonymous except to the families who loved them. Who were they? They were relatives, friends and neighbors melded together to perform a service for our entire society. They came from all walks of life, all religious paths and from all regions of our country. Nevertheless, they all had one thing in common, the love of and loyalty to God and Country.

They were the nation’s defenders. On Memorial Day, we Americans commemorate those who made the greatest sacrifice possible, giving one’s own life selflessly. Far too often, the many in our nation take for granted the freedoms we enjoy. Freedoms paid for by the lives of others few of us actually knew. Today, we collectively remember those who gave their all.

Our passage this morning is John 15:13 is fitting for this Sunday. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” In this verse our Lord spoke of the greatest expression of love: sacrificial love.

I. The Sacrificial Love of the United States soldier, sailor and Air Force service personnel

A. When a person has enlisted in the Armed Forces, they repeat the following oath: I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

B. These men and women volunteer to leave home and family to protect the freedoms we treasure. Our freedom of religion, of speech, to bear arms, and all civil liberties codified in the Bill of Rights are defended and protected by our military. Former Senator Fred Thompson once said, “This wouldn’t be the land of the free if it were not the home of the brave.” It is good and proper for us to thank God for the men and women who have sacrificially loved each of us through their military service.

II. Sacrificial Love is the average in America

America’s isolation from World War II ended on December 7, 1941, when Japan staged a surprise attack on American military installations in the Pacific with the most devastating strike hitting Pearl Harbor. It is estimated that 16,000,000 Americans served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II, with around 400,000 killed and 671,000 wounded.