A Thousand Times, Thank You.
From my vantage point on the side of the pipe organ at the right side of the sanctuary, I have the perfect view of the congregation- the view that the choir, organist and the minister sees. I see the faces of the children giggling in their seats, the occasional note passed between two teenagers, and the smiles of pride on the parents and grandparents faces when their young ones do something special.
On days like yesterday, Veteran’s Day, what I see is more resplendent than the lilies of the field. I see men that proudly stand at attention when asked to be recognized, their backs just as straight as the day they joined when they were much younger men. In our early service, we have two women who join the ranks of the Veterans from our church, equally as proud, equally as deserving of our praise. I can picture them in my mind, and regret I missed seeing the veterans from that service stand- next year I will.
The veterans call out their branch of the armed forces, and their years of service. “Navy, 1950 through 1953.” “The Army, World War II, in this country, France and Germany.” “Air Force Reserves, Gulf War.” Pew by pew, they stand. There is a pause as one man is asked to stand again. His hearing is starting to fade, yet when asked to stand he is transformed again with his back straight and tall.
The sun shone through the stained glass windows on these veterans, our heroes, bathing them in the golden light from heaven above that my eyes began to fill… just as they did last year and the year before that. There is not a time that a veteran is honored, not a time that our flag flies against a crisp blue sky, not a time that I hear the songs honoring our country and our fighting troops that I do not feel my heart ache. The ache of pride, the ache of the realization of the enormous sacrifice these men and women have made so that I can sit in a pretty sanctuary to honor my God freely without fear.
The thought of what some of these veterans saw in battle- whether it was during WWII, in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and now again in the Middle East- chills me. Friends lost, death all around, and memories of home to keep them going. But no, actually, I cannot imagine it at all. Yet these survivors of war, these brave veterans that fought bravely and returned home, bear those memories with grace and went on to nurture their families and further contribute to our great nation.
The veterans I saw yesterday were the fortunate ones. Let us never, ever forget the men and women that lost their lives in wars for this country. Let us forever honor their memory, and the veterans who came home unable to move on and prosper… for those veterans that came home broken in body and spirit, the “forgotten” ones, need our deepest prayers and thankfulness. We mourn for the veterans that did not come home to a hero’s welcome after Vietnam. We honor the veterans that suffered in agony in body and mind from the wars in which they fought. Our hearts go out to the families that bear the pain of a lost loved one who never came home, and the ones that learned how to care for a wounded veteran.
Thank you. Thank you. A thousand times, thank you.
Jana does it again!
Once again, you turn in a superb piece that brought tears to my eyes.
You have great descriptive powers. I could see the faces of these lucky veterans, the ones who made it home to live successful lives.
As you stated, "the 'forgotten' ones, need our deepest prayers and thankfulness". They also need our voices, our demands to our congressmen that more of the defense budget be aimed at aid to returning veterans. The number of homeless veterans is staggering. And as more soldiers return from the Middle East to likely recession and high unemployment, the future for most new veterans will be uncertain.
Homeless
No Words Can Express
Words do not express the gratitude in my heart.
I will simply say thank you but it means so much more.
1,000 TIMES
What a beautiful tribute! Thank you for
sharing.
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