Today, we celebrated Veterans Day. We held a formal and solemn ceremony at Veritas Academy. I was blessed to be in attendance. Roger St. Germaine, an old friend and a godly example of courage and service, spoke at the event. I was struck by a few things . . .
First, I was proud of our school community. Our students did well at the service. Our parents were a blessing. The veterans, both grandparents and community members, were also a blessing. Dr. Laudermilch, as always, was brilliant on the trumpet and Mr. Reese was super. Hats off to Mrs. Reed who organized the event and the wonderful lunch afterward. So much for the present. A special thanks to Representative Gordon Denlinger representing our board and for commemorating the day with us.
Second, I am struck by the importance of a day like this, but of the difficultly that an unbiblical culture, like ours, has making days like this meaningful. We are not people who give homage to our ancestors. We are self centered—and this selfishness harms us.
Third, we need people with a memory of sacrifice and of national unity—and too often they are passing away. Today, our speaker, Captain Roger St. Germaine was “39 year old…plus 50.” The World War II generation is really the last generation that knows and appreciates that feeling of national unity. We need to learn from them in order to remember what whole communities felt like—over and against our collection of individuals which feel like so many pieces of a smashed watch instead of a working timepiece in which all of the pieces worked together. We are a broken community. Hell is a place of isolation. Our world and our places are much more like Hell than they used to be.
Finally, I was struck today the fact that the veterans see the brokenness of our community—they see that the world in the main has forgotten them and does not acknowledge or recall their sacrifice. The veterans I met today were thankful of our efforts to honor them. They were conscious, however, that the culture is blind to their sacrifice. I cannot imagine how galling this sort of forgetfulness would be.
So, if you know a veteran here is what I recommend: Sit down with them. Ask them about their war time stories. Honor their wishes if they don’t want to talk, but talk with them if they will. Learn about their battles and their fallen friends, their moments of courage and despair. Break bread with them and then say thank you. If you can, read a little before you meet with them. Here are a few of my favorite war books:
David McCullough’s 1776
John J. Pullen’s The 20th Maine
Barbara Tuchman’s masterpiece The Guns of August (on WWI)
Stephen Ambrose’s Citizen Soldier (on WWII)
James Brady’s The Marines of Autumn (on the Battle of Chosin Reservoir which is as close as Americans get to the Anabasis)
David Halberstam’s Ho (on Viet Nam—controversial but riveting)
If you read these, you will have something to talk about with the veterans and they will enjoy the conversation.
