Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday November 11, 2008

Veteran's Day!! Each year when this day comes along, I revert to my childhood experience with the day, back then called Armistice Day and the progression to its current title. By whatever name it is a day set aside to pay special tribute to those warriors who have served our country in some branch of the military.

I was born in 1941, just prior to WW11 and shortly after my birth the family moved to Bainbridge Naval Training Center and there I became aware of the world around me, and what a world it was, blackouts, rationing, air-raid drills and sailors by the ship load. The children were taught to respect the men who were training to fight the Japanese, and Germans, though we didn't call them such nice names back then, and no one ever even had nightmares of someday driving a foreign car made by either of these heathen peoples. After all they had launched a sneak attack against us while our brave warriors were sleeping on a Sunday morning. Pearl Harbor will live along with December 7, 1941 in infamy.

After each war, each village, town and city in our land of the brave was inundated with the maimed heroes of the conflict. Many went on with one leg or one arm, mutilated faces and other wounds from the war against tyranny to protect the freedom we count as dearer than life itself. One of our states holds freedom on such a high plane that there adopted motto is,

"Live free or die."

This burning passion for freedom seems to on the wane, yet this lack of passion in no way denigrates the priceless sacrifice of limb or life to the cause officially held dear to our heart.

For years I have had the habit of getting the mail from the Post Office Box and while doing this I engage in small talk with many folks. Some have become friends and I can never predict with any accuracy the length of time the Post Office trip will take. I have had some fascinating conversations in the little Post Office on the North Side. Even the clerks are friendly and I have never known one to go "Postal." Several of the older men come and go and several of these men are veterans and their cars display the Purple Heart on the license plate. They are gentlemen of the highest sort and a pleasure to talk with, though they seldom talk about the Purple Heart. I notice they do revel in the words of appreciation for their service.

My pastoral responsibilities often involve the interment of the mortal remains of men and women who have served God and Country in some branch of the military. I am always moved to the depths as the mostly old guys come from the American Legion or VFW and go through their ceremony of saying a few ritualized passages, patriots prayer, the 21 gun salute, the folding and presentation of the flag to the nearest of kin and the haunting sounding of Taps. Each time this ritual provokes a look forward in my mind and I see the day when we will gather down by the riverside and study war no more.

I often kid some of the older veterans in the church due to the fact they can no longer get into the uniforms they marched off to war in during long ago conflicts. One of them stated,

"Preacher, I doubt that I could fit into my tent, let alone my uniform!"

Ah, the humor of aging.

Today, if you see a known veteran, why not shake his/her hand and say a simple,

"Thank you."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2008 Use with credit

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