Remember...

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Memorial Day

 

Although I cannot say that it is my most favorite holiday, Memorial Day has a special place in my heart. It is a day of reflection of the sacrifices made by those who came before me in order that my freedom might both be established and preserved. How awesome it is to live in a free nation. How unprecedented did America rise from the ashes of tyranny and spread her wings of freedom, changing the world.

 

Flowing out of this reflection naturally comes gratitude. Gratitude for a few rag tag separatists, whom having forsaken all, left their homes in hopes for a new world that would allow them to worship their God freely. Gratitude for those revolutionary figures, whose blood helped forge the very foundation of what it means to be a free America. Gratitude for those Civil War heroes who fought against injustice and in the name of "All men are created equal." Gratitude for the Great War, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War and the Iraqi war heroes who travelled far away from home just to preserve an abstract, but yet simple, concept called "freedom." On this day, above all, I remember and I thank you for your sacrifice. May I be ever as willing to display the courage that you displayed, may I be willing to lay my life down for my country without hesitation, should my country require it. May I continue to be an instrument of freedom today and throughout all my days.

 

I would like to share a poem with you...it's called "In Flander's Field," and it is written by a Canadian surgeon following the World War I battle of Flanders. This particular poem has been read for decades following World War I. My father shared it in church yesterday, so I thought I'd share it with you all.

 

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

 

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Remember...

 

Freedom Wall at the World War II Memorial