The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. [Isaiah 2:4 (NLT)]
Commissioned in 1946, the USS Midway served the entire length of the Cold War, during the Vietnam War, and in Operation Desert Storm. Decommissioned in 1992, this retired Naval aircraft carrier is now a museum in San Diego. It was fascinating to wander through this floating city and see the flight deck, bridge, hangar bay, engine room, crew quarters, ready room, and sick bay and inspiring to speak with vets who actually served aboard the ship. Unfortunately, not all of the sailors who boarded that ship during its 46 years of service walked off it. For some, if they returned home at all, it was in a box.
While in California, we also visited the Mt. Soledad National Veteran’s Memorial. Set on a hill with panoramic views of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean, an impressive 27-foot concrete cross rises from its center. This unique memorial honors veterans from the Revolutionary War all the way to the current global war on terror. Over 3,500 black granite plaques are etched with the name of a veteran and most include a picture and a brief summary of the vet’s military experience. Although many of those named on the plaques safely came home, the stories on those plaques told me that some were killed in action.
In our Florida town, we often walk at a park where banners hanging from the light posts honor those who served in the armed forces. Names and dates of service are on the banners and most of those honored by the banners returned after serving our country. I hadn’t given them much thought until I looked up and noticed a banner honoring a beautiful young woman whose dates included “KIA.” This young woman was probably no more than thirty when she died in 2011. I don’t know if she was married or had children. I only know that she left behind some people who loved her enough to honor her with that banner.
I never knew any of the people who died while serving on the USS Midway or whose names were on those granite plaques. I never met the young woman whose face smiled down at me or any of the other dead whose pictures grace those banners. More important, not one of them knew me or you. Nevertheless, they gave their lives for us so that we can have the freedom to travel, walk in a local park, read or write a blog, donate to our favorite causes, vote the way we want, disagree with the government and one another, worship freely, and read whatever newspapers, books or magazines we want to read.
Memorial Day is more than a holiday to enjoy free time. It’s a day to remember people like that young woman and all those others who sacrificed their lives to help preserve the many freedoms we enjoy as Americans. Recently, five new walls were built at Mt. Soledad to accommodate 2,400 more names. Let us pray for peace so that, someday, we won’t have to keep adding plaques and banners to memorials!
Hear our prayer for those who put the welfare of others ahead of their own and give us hearts as generous as theirs. Hear our prayer for those who gave their lives in the service of others, and accept the gift of their sacrifice. Help us to shape and make a world where we will lay down the arms of war and turn our swords into ploughshares for a harvest of justice and peace. [Austin Fleming]
Devotions of the Heart 