Posted on 05/27/2002 12:32:55 AM PDT by dixie sass
Benediction
Since it’s very inception, the American military has been called on to perform duties requiring amazing courage and self-sacrifice. General George Washington took a ragtag Continental Army and crossed the Delaware River to attack an enemy force in New Jersey. In the dead of a brutal winter, many of his soldiers didn’t even have shoes. They were victorious.
In the war of 1812, Andrew Jackson and his American Soldiers took a stand in the battle of New Orleans. The bravery of these solders is not diminished by the fact that a truce had already been signed between the United States and England. They didn’t know but they were victorious.
Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill was particularly brave because it was done in the face of Spanish Forces armed with German machine guns that gave them brutal firepower. When the smoke and dust settled from The Spanish-American war, Spain withdrew from their Colonial territories from Cuba to the Philippines. America was victorious.
America’s entrance into WW I threw doughboys into a trench war stalemate that measured success or failure by feet and inches. Although there was a constant threat of attack by nerve and mustard gas, America and her allies dug in and held the line. In the end, power was snatched away from the Kaiser and the “War to end all wars” came to an end. America and her allies were victorious.
When Adolph Hitler began making demands in the 1930s, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain thought that Germany could be held at bay by appeasement. Appeasement of a lunatic was proven to be a fallacy when the blitzkrieg rolled over Poland and WW II was on. Europe was quickly consumed with goose-stepping storm-troopers and England was left alone to resist the maniacal appetite of the Fuehrer. With the dastardly attack of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, American troops found themselves fighting two wars, one in Europe and one, virtually alone, in the Pacific. The accounts of unbelievable bravery and sacrifices made by American troops are too numerous to recount. From the men that manned the B-17 and B-24s in daylight raids over Nazi war factories to the beaches of The Normandy Invasion, young Americans gave their lives by the thousands only to be replaced by other young Americans, all in the pursuit of liberty and justice. From the battle of Midway to the invasion of Okinawa,0 uncommon heroism was the rule, not the exception. When a B-29 dropped the second A bomb on Japan the big fight was over. America was victorious.
When the Communist regime of North Korea swooped over South Korea in June of 1950, a new type of war was introduced to the world, a UN action. What did that mean? It meant that 41 member nations of the UN took credit for the war by sending token equipment and supplies to the war effort. What did it really mean? It meant that Americans supplied 90% of the war material and the men to the war effort. It meant that it was mostly Americans that did the fighting, bleeding, and dying while the UN sat back and patted themselves on the back at the good job THEY were doing. From the defense of the Pusan Perimeter, where American and South Korean forces successfully denied the Communists a complete takeover of the Korean Peninsular, to the landing that couldn’t be done at Inchon, America soldiers prevailed and the Red Army was pushed back almost to the Yalu River on the Chinese border. The retreat from the Chosin Reservoir was the epitome of heroism, honor, and duty. You can call it “just plain guts” when American Forces refused to leave one man behind. In July 1953 an armistice agreement was signed and the fighting ceased. Although a state of was still exists, and American troops are still there, the North Koreans have not invaded across the DMZ since then. America, and not the UN, was victorious.
Vietnam. What do you call it? A war, a police action, a congressional resolution? To this day I don’t know what to call it. I don’t know why we were there. I don’t know what the goals and objectives were. And neither does most of the soldiers that fought and died there. I do know this: over 58,000 young Americans answered their country’s call and gave their lives in that foreign and strange land. Approximately 2 million, 600 thousand Americans also answered their country’s call and served in that effort. I have heard it said that our military let us down in Vietnam. I adamantly deny that!!! It was, rather, we, the United States of America, that let our military down. Once our troops were sent there, they deserved OUR support. They didn’t get it. Once they came home, they deserved OUR respect. They didn’t get it!!! Instead, they were spat on. We, as a nation, can never repay the Vietnam Vet for the indignities that we forced them to bear. But bear it they did with their heads held high and their dignity intact, and threw it right back in our faces. Lessons to be learned here: never let a war become a political football, never enter a war without a clear objective, and never send Americans into battle unless you plan to support them with everything you have. They deserve nothing less. Our politicians lost the war. Our military was victorious.
From Vietnam to Afghanistan our military went through Grenada, Panama, Somalia and Desert Storm. We also put out brush fires in Bosnia and Kosovo. Throughout all of these incursions, our military has served us well. They have carried the flag of The United States high and proud. We owe them more than one day of gratitude each year. We owe them out unwavering gratitude every day of our lives.
Let us pray
Our Heavenly Father: We pray for your love, protection, and guidance for our sons and daughters who, as solders for your righteousness, are stationed in troubled regions around the world today. May you find them and their cause worthy of your continued blessings. And for all of our brave solders, past and present, who have made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives, we pray that they walk with you in the glory of heaven. We pray for the victims of senseless violence committed against innocent people in the name of religion. May they find justice for their grievances.
And on this Memorial Day, Father, we pray for your hand on the shoulder of our President. His is a terrible burden to bear, but he puts his trust in you and, therefore, will not fail.
We thank you for all the many blessings that you have bestowed upon us, and pray that you will find us worthy in your sight.
We ask all this in your holy name.
AMEN
Thanks for posting this treasure, dixie sass.
Bump!
Frank L. Davis, Jr., Captain, USNR (Ret), 1963-1991, USN, USNR.
I was proud have served as a Naval Aviator, and would do it again, in a heartbeat!
If I were 25 years old, I cannot imagine wanting to be anywhere else in the world except strapped into the pilot's seat of any USN Carrier-type Aircraft, on the catapult, in tension, waiting for the "cat" to fire! The most exciting, rewarding and challenging task known to man -- Carrier Aviation, irespective of the type aircraft!
However, "If your airplane does not have a round engine, a tailwheel and a tailhook, it is not a real airplane."
PS. I'd love to get just one more "trap," even though, by Navy standards, I am an "Old Geezer!"
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