Hard but important reading–go through them all.
A 7 year old’s letter to the dad he lost in Afghanistan: “I wish you could see me play soccer… [Mom] says you have the best seat in the house from Heaven. But I would rather have you here.” https://t.co/4sI3gjDkpu #MemorialDay pic.twitter.com/Ko5gLLwumD
— Ellison Barber (@ellisonbarber) May 28, 2018
I’d like us to focus our thoughts and actions on the true meaning of Memorial Day – because it matters.
All of us who have served in the military, especially those who served in wartime, have comrades and friends who did not return home that we think of everyday.
We must never forget the self-sacrifice that a select group of Americans made from the founding of our country through the Global War on Terrorism. Nothing is more painful than the loss of a comrade, father, mother, son or daughter. We owe a great debt to these men and women that we can never repay, but we must try, and we invite our friends, neighbors and co-workers to do the same.
I want to ensure no one forgets the true meaning of Memorial Day and no one forgets that behind every name is the legacy of someone who gave their life so we might live in freedom in our great nation.
Eisenhower at cemetery in Normandy, France, with graves of D-Day soldiers, 1963: pic.twitter.com/W0dKXlJdS9
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) May 28, 2018
• NCA maintains approximately 3.5 million gravesites at 135 national cemeteries, one national Veterans’ burial ground and 33 soldiers’ lots and monument sites in 41 states and Puerto Rico.
• Approximately 406,000 full-casket gravesites, 111,000 in-ground gravesites for cremated remains,and 112,026 columbarium niches are developed in VA’s 135 national cemeteries.
• NCA manages approximately 21,400 acres within its cemeteries. Approximately 57 percent are undeveloped and, along with available gravesites in developed acreage, have the potential to
provide approximately 5.3 million gravesites.
• Of the 135 national cemeteries, 77 are open to all interments; 17 can accommodate cremated remains and the remains of family members for interment in the same gravesite as a previously
deceased family member; and 41 will perform only interments of family members in the same gravesite as a previously deceased family member.
Facts About the National Cemetery Administration for #memorialday 'NCA maintains approximately 3.5 million gravesites at 135 national cemeteries, one national Veterans’ burial ground and 33 soldiers’ lots and monument sites in 41 states and Puerto Rico..' https://t.co/x3w2KSdqN0 pic.twitter.com/WJwWWcr2yG
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) May 28, 2018
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.
“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today”
— On many memorials to the dead in war worldwide, as for example that for the British 2nd Division at Kohima, India; there is a debate about its precise origins in terms of who first penned the lines
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
“My Fellow Americans:
“Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
“And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
“Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
“They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
“For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.&
“Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
“And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
“Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
“Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.
“And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.
“And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment — let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
“With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace — a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
“Thy will be done, Almighty God.
“Amen.”
You can listen to the actual audio if you want here and today of all days is the day to do that. Also, there is more on background and another audio link there.–KSH.
5th November 1940 (77 years)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is re-elected for an unprecedented third term as president of the United States. pic.twitter.com/SjlIKVePhE
— On This Day In… (@ThisDayInPast) November 5, 2017
The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s last tattoo;
No more on life’s parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame’s eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.
No rumor of the foe’s advance
Now swells upon the wind;
Nor troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind;
No vision of the morrow’s strife
The warrior’s dream alarms;
No braying horn nor screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.
Their shriveled swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed,
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow,
And the proud forms, by battle gashed
Are free from anguish now.
Leader: Let us give thanks to God for the land of our birth with all its chartered liberties. For all the wonder of our country’s story:
PEOPLE: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
Leader: For leaders in nation and state, and for those who in days past and in these present times have labored for the commonwealth:
PEOPLE: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
Leader: For those who in all times and places have been true and brave, and in the world’s common ways have lived upright lives and ministered to their fellows:
PEOPLE: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
Leader: For those who served their country in its hour of need, and especially for those who gave even their lives in that service:
PEOPLE: WE GIVE YOU THANKS, O GOD.
Leader: O almighty God and most merciful Father, as we remember these your servants, remembering with gratitude their courage and strength, we hold before you those who mourn them. Look upon your bereaved servants with your mercy. As this day brings them memories of those they have lost awhile, may it also bring your consolation and the assurance that their loved ones are alive now and forever in your living presence.
Let us remember the men & women who have given everything to the cause of freedom: https://t.co/hUeQfaSejH #HonorThem pic.twitter.com/ORMcP80ro0
— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) May 28, 2017
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.
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.
–Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
In thanksgiving for all those who gave their lives for this country in years past, and for those who continue to serveKSH.
P.S. The circumstances which led to this remarkable poem are well worth remembering:
It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915 and to the war in general. McCrea had spent seventeen days treating injured men — Canadians, British, French, and Germans in the Ypres salient. McCrae later wrote: “I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days… Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done.” The next day McCrae witnessed the burial of a good friend, Lieut. Alexis Helmer. Later that day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the field dressing station, McCrea composed the poem. A young NCO, delivering mail, watched him write it. When McCrae finished writing, he took his mail from the soldier and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the Sergeant-major. Cyril Allinson was moved by what he read: “The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene.” Colonel McCrae was dissatisfied with the poem, and tossed it away. A fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915. For his contributions as a surgeon, the main street in Wimereaux is named “Rue McCrae”.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead: We give thee thanks for all thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence; and give us such a lively sense of thy righteous will, that the work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.
This #MemorialDay, we honor the men and women who gave their lives for this country. We celebrate the legacy left behind by these heroes and our hearts mourn along with those left behind to tell their stories of service and sacrifice. #MemorialDay18 #HonorThem 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Nv7ZjtvOI0
— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) May 28, 2018
Sovereign and holy God, who didst bring John Calvin from a study of legal systems to understand the godliness of thy divine laws as revealed in Scripture: Fill us with a like zeal to teach and preach thy Word, that the whole world may come to know thy Son Jesus Christ, the true Word and Wisdom; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, ever one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
John Calvin (1509-1564), the Reformation's leading theologian, died on May 27, 1564. Calvin’s legacy flourished in North America where most Americans, starting with the New England Puritans and continuing through the founding generation, identified with Calvinist denominations. pic.twitter.com/6zKDgYJUOK
— Daniel Dreisbach (@d3bach) May 27, 2018
O Lord, heavenly Father, in whom is the fullness of light and wisdom: Enlighten our minds by thy Holy Spirit, and give us grace to receive thy Word with reverence and humility, without which no man can understand thy truth; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
–John Calvin (1509-1564)
We also remember John Calvin, Reformer, who died in 1564 https://t.co/gfZCsMaMQW pic.twitter.com/xRrznxPEMV
— The Church of England (@churchofengland) May 26, 2018
To thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in thee I trust,
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Yea, let none that wait for thee be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know thy ways, O Lord;
teach me thy paths.
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me,
for thou art the God of my salvation;
for thee I wait all the day long.
–Psalm 25:1-4