Sunday, May 27, 2001
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Sunday, May 27, 2001 |
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All they ask is that we remember
By DR. KNOX HERNDON
During World War II in Holland, the American forces landed in the Allied Airborne Assault on Hitler's fortress in Europe. There are several U.S. cemeteries where American soldiers died and are buried. The older Europeans, with pride, will sign up to take care of an American grave. They will take their families out to their assigned grave and tell their children what it was like living under the Nazis. They will then tell them the stories of how the Allied Forces liberated their homeland. They will then hand-clip the grass of the grave and take a bucket of water and hand-wash the headstones of the American soldier. All a soldier ever asks in return to us today is that we remember. Things to ponder this upcoming Memorial Day, May 28: The things they carried They carried C-rations and K-rations, P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog tags, insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine tablets, sterno, LRRP- rations, and C-rations stuffed in socks. They carried standard fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets and steel pots. From the beginning they carried flintlocks and percussion weapons, 1903 A-3 rifles and M1's, BAR's, M14,s and the M-16 assault rifle. In Vietnam they carried trip flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, the M-79 grenade launcher, CAR-15's, Stoners, Swedish K's, 66mm Laws, shotguns, .45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets, rockets, and choppers, and sometimes the sound of silence. They carried C-4 plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25 radios, knives and machetes. They carried Gideon bibles with steel plated covers and prayer beads, crosses and a rabbit's foot. They carried letters from their loved ones and cards and pictures of their churches, synagogues and temples. They dealt with great fear and dealt with death and damage. Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive. They carried malaria, dysentery, ringworms and leeches. They carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones real and imagined. They carried love for people in the real world and love for one another. And sometimes they disguised that love: "Don't mean nothin'!" They carried memories for the most part, they carried themselves with poise and a kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times when panic set in, and people squealed or wanted to, but couldn't; when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said "Dear God" and hugged the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God and their parents, hoping not to die. They carried the traditions of the United States military, and memories and images of those who served before them. They carried grief, terror, longing and their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear: the embarrassment of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They were afraid of dying, but too afraid to show it. They carried the emotional baggage of men and women who might die at any moment. They carried the weight of the world. They carried each other. Then some, upon, returned to the United States, were met with the misguided dropout subculture rabble of the American streets who taunted them and who would spit on them and insult them for giving every thing they had to provide another chance at democracy for a bullied people in a far away land. Then, to add insult to deep injury, they were told each night on the sold-out evening news that what they did was wrong. God help us! Bottom line: They had fought for this subculture's freedom of speech and their right to disagree. They had exhibited the "greater love" and personal sacrifice as mentioned in God's Word "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (Author unknown with personal additions.) Remember them this Memorial Day, May 28.
Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC) and a former Army chaplain. The church has moved to its new
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