My family was blessed to have never known the pain and suffering of losing family members to the tragedies and cruelty of war. My uncle Jerry, a Catholic priest, served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force for many years and was the only member of our family who served in a war. He was among the first to be put in harm’s way during the first Gulf war in 1990 and proudly served our country during Operation Desert Storm while ministering to the heroic men and woman on the front lines in Kuwait and Iraq. He was someone who always went above and beyond the call of duty in loving and serving others. When I think of our Veterans, I think of men and woman, who like my uncle, were deeply loved by their families and who had the strength to be willing to put their lives in danger and make incredible sacrifices. For my uncle, his motivation was to be a witness of faith and bring Christ to his fellow soldiers and be a beacon of hope and faith for them.
I have spent many hours walking the fields of Gettysburg, the hills of Arlington National Cemetery and the shores of Normandy as well as visiting sacred monuments such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. While I never personally knew any of the men or woman whose names are remembered on those sacred grounds, I was always filled with a deep reverence and a sense of immense gratitude for their sacrifice and their love of our country. So many of them were young people who never had the chance to know the many gifts and joys I have been so blessed to experience. What were their dreams, hopes and unrealized potential? We will never know, but yet every time we stop to pray for our country, recite the Pledge of Allegiance or to sing our National Anthem, can we proudly remember the countless men and woman who gave their lives for our freedom. They sacrificed their lives and all they could have been so that our country might one day reach its potential to truly be that Shining Light on the Hill. While, we as a Nation have not yet reached that goal and we might often stumble, let us not forget the lives of all those who have helped get us this far up that mountain and may we always honor their memories with hearts filled with gratitude, compassion and love.
Take a few minutes today to pray for those who died so that we might enjoy our freedom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PksSjMFA6N0
Previous Blogs…