Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13, New American Standard translation
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
And despite the sacrifice vets have made for our country there still treated poorly by the system. I have a friend whose husband fought for our country was injured and now has to contend with a system that specializes in delay tactics knowing full well that most people eventually get tired and stop fighting for what is due them. My prayer is that those who work with vets and know the challenges that the system faces will they themselves realize that they have the power to effect change and be part of the solution in fixing an antiquated system that is in need of repair. And my prayer for our vets is that you will know how many appreciate the sacrifices you’ve made while defending our country.
Thanks to all those veterans, living and deceased who sacrificed and sacrifice so much to keep us free.
Dad,
Your nation called and you answered in the only way you could.
Not shirking your responsilbilty, or leaving it to another to do in your place, you were inducted into the Army as a conscientious objector and served side by side with your fellow soldiers, tending to their wounds and comforting them in their dying at the invasion of Normandy, on the beaches of Omahha and all along the blood staine path to Germany. You witnessed first hand the horrors of the concentration camps and you ministered those dying and wounded as well.
Then you returned home and invested your life in teaching children until your death at the age of 50, in 1969.
You brought honor to the name of your family and to your family’s GOD.
I look forward with great anticipation to that great day when I can embrace you and say the things I never did while you were in my midst.
Dad,
You are my hero.
your son and brother in the LORD JESUS
yor bro ke n
YBK, what a beautiful tribute to your Dad. *tears*
God bless all of our country’s heroes, past and present.
And thanks to the LORD for being my personal hero and Savior every day.
LL <3
Yes, despite that song, “The Greatest Love of All” is not to love yourself. That’s the easiest one of all. These heroes showed what it really is by their sacrifice.
May they rest in peace, and may they receive their reward when His Kingdom comes.
Memorial Day and the special sacrifices made by men
By Denise Noe
Few holidays are as somber as Memorial Day. This day, which takes place on the last Monday in May, honors American soldiers killed in service to their country.
It seems like a good day to remember the special sacrifices that our society, and every other, demands from men. While the Wikipedia states, “The holiday commemorate U.S. men and women who died in military service for their country,” the truth is that death in combat is anything but an equal opportunity disaster.
Memorial Day has its roots in efforts to honor those killed in America’s Civil War. On both sides, only men were drafted and only men knowingly sent into combat. There were a handful of women who fought but they had disguised themselves as men. (Their motives varied with some women so dedicated to either the Union or the Confederacy that they wanted to fight for it and others unable to bear separation from their husbands.)
The Wikipedia notes, “After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action.” In both World Wars, America drafted only men and sent only men into combat. Women volunteered for the military and served in a variety of important and demanding capacities. However, the “risk rule” protecting female soldiers (and yes, limiting their roles and pay) was firmly in place as it would remain until very recently. American men were sent to kill and die and they died in enormous numbers; a tiny number of American women were killed in combat-related accidents.
The sending of men into this most dangerous of activities is not the result of sexist stereotype or prejudice. The pronounced size and strength differences between the genders mean that many of the most dangerous combat positions can only be effectively performed by men.
Sadly, the fact that men are the combat soldiers, either exclusively or primarily, has often been used against men as a group. It is often said that if women ran the world, there would be no wars. This is false. Wars are not caused by any mass spike in the testosterone of the men in belligerent countries but because of disputes about resources and ideologies that affect both sexes. Countries led by women have often gone to war but women leaders like Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, and Margaret Thatcher sent men to battle because, like men leaders, they had to in order to win.
The tendency to strain for gender inclusiveness when discussing America’s military has been lampooned by lesbian anti-feminist (yes, the combination does exist) Florence King with the phrase “our fighting men ‘n’ wimmin.” The truth is that women in today’s American military serve in a greater variety of roles than they have at any previous time. With the demise of the risk rule, they also realistically risk their own demises in situations that are not freak accidents. However, it remains true that roughly 85% of our military personnel are men and that they continue to be the vast majority of casualties.
“It’s a man’s world” is a cliché with a superficial plausibility but one that is misleading. War is an arena in which men are uniquely, if unavoidably, burdened. They make up the vast majority of lives cruelly cut short that we remember on Memorial Day.
Folks, on this day when we honor the dead, I am happy to announce a new life has come into the world — my grandson was born last night. I haven’t seen him yet, but he has a head full of dark hair (and judging from hearing him on the phone, a strong set of lungs)! He weighed 6 pounds five oz. Mother, dad, and baby Isaiah are doing fine!
Congratulations, Phillymiss!
phillymiss
Congratulations!
Ken
That was a beautiful tribute.
Denise
Don’t you think women who serve in the military would feel slighted by that post. I think your title should have included women. I understand what your saying but don’t agree. I do believe that women should be exempt from the draft but their contribution is just as important as the men’s contribution. If honor has to be taken from the women in order to honor men than that is not true honor.
myrtle miller says:
May 31, 2011 at 6:29 pm
DeniseDon’t you think women who serve in the military would feel slighted by that post. I think your title should have included women. I understand what your saying but don’t agree. I do believe that women should be exempt from the draft but their contribution is just as important as the men’s contribution. If honor has to be taken from the women in order to honor men than that is not true honor.
(Denise) Myrtle, I share your respect and admiration for the many patriotic women who ably serve in America’s military. I don’t believe my essay takes anything away from them. It points out the greater sacrifice that has and must be demanded of men in combat and honors the male sex for that sacrifice. Recognizing the male-specific sacrifice in no way denigrates the important services of females.