“I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces that guard our country and protect our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.” Article I, United States Code Of Conduct
Brave words;
Noble words;
Head-lifting, chest-filling, adrenalin-pumping, flag-waving words.
All across our nation tomorrow, and on American military installations around the globe, a tradition that is more than 140-years old will be observed – American fighting men and women who have lived and died honoring this code will be mourned and their sacrificial service commemorated.
Hundreds of parades, thousands of speeches, and hundreds of thousands of miniature American flags, and millions of flowers will be offered in tribute to the memory of those who sacrificed all they had for what they believed in.
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
Traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day.
While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.
There are a few notable exceptions. On the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 280,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. This has been their practice since the early 1950’s.
In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day.
Since 1998, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts of Fredericksburg, Virginia, place a candle on the Saturday before Memorial Day at each one of more than 15,300 gravesites of soldiers buried at Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye’s Heights.
In 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.
Remarks by President Bush
At Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Day Commemoration
Arlington National Cemetery
May 31, 2004
This morning I had the honor of placing a wreath before the Tomb of the Unknowns. This custom is observed every Memorial Day on behalf of the American people as a mark of gratitude and respect.
And when this ceremony is concluded, and all of us have gone on our way, the Honor Guard will keep watch over the Tomb. Every hour of every day, on the coldest nights, in the hardest rain, there is a sentinel of the 3rd U.S. Infantry standing guard. The soldiers entrusted with that duty count it a privilege. And, today, as we reflect on the men and women who have died in the defense of America, all of us count it a privilege to be citizens of the country they served.
In the military tradition, no one is left behind on the field of battle. And our nation is determined to account for all of the missing. The same spirit can be seen in the respect we show to each life laid down for this nation. We receive them in sorrow, and we take them to an honored place to rest. At this and other cemeteries across our country, and in cemeteries abroad where heroes fell, America acknowledges a debt that is beyond our power to repay.
This weekend, we dedicated the World War II Memorial, which will stand forever as a tribute to the generation that fought that war and the more than 400,000 Americans who fell. Some here today can turn their minds back across 60 years and see the face of a buddy who never made it home. You are veterans who have not forgotten your comrades. And America will always honor the achievements and the character of your brave generation.
Through our history, America has gone to war reluctantly, because we have known the costs of war. And the war on terror we’re fighting today has brought great costs of its own. Since the hour this nation was attacked, we have seen the character of the men and women who wear our country’s uniform. In places like Kabul and Kandahar, in Mosul and Baghdad, we have seen their decency and their brave spirit. Because of their fierce courage, America is safer, two terror regimes are gone forever, and more than 50 million souls now live in freedom.
Those who have fought these battles and served this cause can be proud of all they have achieved. And these veterans of battle will carry with them for all their days the memory of the ones who did not live to be called veterans. They will remember young soldiers like Captain Joshua Byers, a West Point man born in South Carolina who died in Iraq. When this son of missionaries was given command of a 120-man combat unit, he wrote this to his parents: "I will give the men everything I have to give. I love them already, just because they’re mine. I
pray, with all my heart, that I will be able to take every single one of them home safe when we finish our mission here."
Sergeant Major Michael Stack, who was laid to rest at Arlington, wore the uniform for 28 years and is remembered as a soldier’s soldier. The sergeant major must have been quite a guy. When he was a young platoon sergeant, the recruits gave him a nickname: No Slack Billy Jack Stack. By all accounts, he was the kind of man you want in charge of a tough situation. And by the account of his mother, he finished his goodbyes with these words:
"Mom, I’m going because I believe in what I am doing. And if I don’t come back, we will meet in a better place."
Those who risked their lives on our behalf are often very clear about what matters most in their own lives, and they tell it to those they love. Master Sergeant Kelly Hornbeck, of the Special Forces, was killed in action last January, south of Samarra. To his parents back in Fort Worth, Texas, he wrote this: "I am not afraid, and neither should either of you be -- For I trust in my God and my training, two powerful forces that cannot be fully measured."
After Private First Class Jesse Givens, of Springfield, Missouri was lost last May, his family received a letter he had written to them in the event of his death. He wrote this to his son, Dakota: "You’ve taught me that life isn’t so serious, and sometimes you just have to play. You have a big, beautiful heart. Through your life, you need to keep it open and follow it. I will always be there in our park when you dream, so we can play." To his wife, Melissa, Private Givens wrote, "Do me a favor after you tuck the children in -- give them hugs and kisses from me. Go outside and look at the stars and count them. Don’t forget to smile." This is the quality of the people in our uniform.
And this is the loss to our nation. Markers on these hills record the names of more than 280,000 men and women. Each was once or still is the most important person in someone’s life. With each loss in war, the world changed forever for the family and friends left behind. Each loss left others to go on, counting the years of separation, and living in the hope of reunion.
Although the burden of grief can become easier to bear, always there is the memory of another time, and the feeling of sadness over an unfinished life. Yet, the completeness of a life is not measured in length only. It is measured in the deeds and commitments that give a life its purpose. And the commitment of these lives was clear to all: They defended our nation, they liberated the oppressed, they served the cause of peace. And all Americans who have known the loss and sadness of war, whether recently or long ago, can know this: The person they love and missed is honored and remembered by the United States of America.
May God bless our country.
For many of the living tomorrow, oceans of tears will be shed as memories of those lost are rekindled. Memories of:
A favorite picnic spot no longer shared;
The sounds of a voice singing a favorite song (slightly out of tune) no longer heard;
Or, perhaps they will stand holding the hand of a small child whose laughing face Daddy never got to see.
Memory can be a dreadful, depressing, tormenting thing.
Amid the sorrow and the sadness and the tears, some will have within their hearts a strength and a certainty – a joy – a celebration of the soul – for, they know that the name engraved on the marker before them is written somewhere else – it is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Memory can be a beautiful, delightful, comforting thing.
Each and every one of us has memories – some are pleasant and peaceful, others are painful and condemning.
A day is coming when all of us will be called to remember our lives – our attitudes and our actions – and to give an accounting for them.
Some will carry the memory of their sins and their rebellion for eternity, while others’ sin has been cast into the sea of God’s forgetfulness.
We hear a lot about heaven and the future glory that believers will share when they live in God’s presence for eternity. We hear very little of the alternative. Ironically, Jesus taught more about the alternative option to heaven than He did about heaven itself.
The most vivid picture Jesus ever gave of the two options available – and remember, there are only two choices on the menu – is found in Luke 16:19-31.
Rich Man Lazarus
Name unknown / Name written in the Book of Life
Life of luxurious self-indulgence / Life of poverty and
sickness, but hope
Dies and is buried / Carried to Paradise
Leaves it all behind / Receives everything promised
Torment, agony, helplessness /Personal comfort and care
Memory In Hell
Cain
Noah’s neighbors
Goliath
Judas
Time Of Separation
Sheep/Goats
Wheat/Tares
Grain/Chaff
Husband/Praying wife
Rebellious Child/Praying Dad
Father/Praying Daughter
The rich man waited too long – his “missionary spirit” came too late. Everything available to him and his family is available to all of us today. The God-ordained agencies and the miracles God has performed throughout history already speak the truth about Him. The irony of Jesus saying, “For, even if someone were to return from the dead…” Sound familiar?
We have only two choices – there is a point of separation.
Will we be tormented or comforted?
Condemned or commended?
Will He say to us, “Welcome home, good and faithful servant,” or will He say, “Depart from me, accursed one, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”
How can we know? Is there any real hope?
A - Admit (Romans 3:23 Rom 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”);
B - Believe (Acts 4:13, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”);
C - Confess and Claim (Romans 10:9-10, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”)
Once we have confessed Him as Savior – which speaks to what He has done for us – we claim Him as Lord – which speak to what we will do for Him.
(Texts)
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”
1 John 2:6
the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
Rev 20:11-15
And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things, which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead, which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
