Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on earth.

• 1 Chronicles 1:10

These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families.

• 1 Chronicles 5:24

As the Scriptures suggest, we have remembered our warriors for millennia.

Memorial Day was established to remember the military personnel that did not survive the conflict.  Many made it back home, but with a flag draped over the coffin.  Many are buried on foreign soil, some in unmarked graves.

Memorial Day is one of the highest travel volume days.  Memorial Day is claimed to be the celebration of the start of summer.  I had a preacher, who was pandering a judge who was visiting the church, tell the congregation that Memorial Day was for picnic and families to gather for a reunion.  That pastor should read and heed James 2.

Let’s not forget the reason for the holiday by applying other concepts for the holiday.  The thought of a “happy” Memorial Day seems off-putting to me.  It is a day of reflection.

There are other days for other things.  Armed Forces Day is the third Saturday in May.  It is designated to celebrate those presently serving in the military.  Did anyone notice?

Veterans Day is 11 November each year, the armistice day for World War I, the war to end all wars, only it didn’t.  To those veterans out there, think about all the people who wish you a Happy Veterans Day.  Are there any of them, except maybe a family member, who are not veterans themselves?  Veterans Day is a remembrance of those who have served and lived to tell about it, but there are few people today that want to hear the stories.  And other than other veterans, does anyone care?

My sister shares her birthday with Veterans Day.  We have a tradition.  I will call her and yell, “Happy Veterans Day!”  Her response is usually, “You idiot!  I will pass the word on to my husband.”  Then we laugh and I will eventually get around to wishing her a happy birthday.  But she has told me on occasion that there should be a day of remembrance for military spouses.  They have it hard too.  I remember the wives in our building in West Germany.  They planned to forget waiting at the Air Force bases for the next plane back to the USA if World War III started.  They were carpooling to Switzerland.  The tragedy is that they had to think of such options.

But I would like to suggest a different holiday of remembrance, honor, and support.  I have no idea what to call it, but we need to remember all those who did not make it home whole.

I have lost friends who suffered from drug addiction started when fighting in Vietnam.

I have lost friends from PTSD as a result of combat.

I have lost friends to cancer after being exposed to Agent Orange.

The television advertisements show countless warriors who returned home with limbs missing, burn scars, paralyzed, or wounds that do not show outwardly.

These people are Veterans, but as I write this, my Veteran status is not the same as my wife’s, who suffers from a mild case of PTSD, as if there is such a thing.  I may have a slight disability from my time in service, but I have all my fingers and toes.

I think Veterans Day is inadequate for those who struggle each day in some sort of way.  Let us remember them.

“The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.”

• Exodus 15:3

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.