Fifteen years ago Deb and I lived in the Northern Virginia area not far from where the Battles for Manassas were fought. I would often go out and either jog or prayerfully walk along the old unfinished railroad bed known as Deep Cut. It was along this line that a portion of Jackson’s Confederate forces held Reno’s Federal forces during the second battle for the north-south railroad line at Manassas.
For me the journey along that road bed — along that old battle line, whether on a jog or walking, was never easy – not easy to imagine the horror of battle in that place – especially at the one spot where Jackson’s men ran out of ammunition and in a desperate act of panic (some might call it bravery) these men began to pick up and throw stones at the advancing Federal line. It became a time when men became boys again, when the Federal troops threw down their weapons and began to throw back the stones, both sides acting much like street gangs. Such is the desperation of combat I suspect.
Each time I walked down the Deep Cut my soul was stirred. The experience has taught me that we need to listen to these and all who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that in our hearing correctly they may finally rest in peace.
In the two battles for Manassas, the combined losses of American combat soldiers, whether they wore grey or blue, approached the number of our total losses in the Viet Nam War.
Well, it was this war that gave birth to our celebrated Memorial Day each year. Nonetheless these too are veterans worthy of our memory and honor. And, I believe we need to ensure we welcome them into this time of remembering our veterans on this Veteran’s Day.
Veteran’s Day came into being in 1947. On this day each year the nation is asked to pause and remember the men and women who have served their nation in the armed forces. Previously to this, our nation celebrated Armistice Day – a day of remembering those who were unable to return from our nation’s wars – particularly the dead in World War I.
I believe it is fitting that we now honor all veterans – both the living and the dead. In this way, we remember correctly the terrible wounds that many of our veterans carry on their bodies as well as in their spirits, and the terrible grief that their families suffer every day. It is also a time for the few of us who have been spared to say: “Thanks be to God.” It is in this way we become genuine in our remembering.
And so, let us remember the cost:
1. In the war to end all wars – World War I: more than 20 million military and civilian dead and an additional 21 million wounded for life.
2. Because war never ends war another 21 million military and 28 million civilian dead in World War II – roughly half of these Russian.
3. 2 million in Korea in a war that continues to this day
4. 1 million Vietnamese, 0.5 million Viet-Cong and North Vietnamese; and more than 50,000 American men and women in the Viet Nam war.
5. And this remembering does not count the dead and wounded in the many secret wars waged nor the loss of life in wars waged in the past three decades in Africa, Asia, Central & south America, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Inscribed on this wall are many names once called out by loved ones – names of people filled with hopes and dreams. Their voices are now silent and they dream no more. If they could talk, what would they say to us? I suppose they would want to remind us what they fought for and what it was they spent their lives to protect. And I suppose they now know better than we that war is the absence of peace and that peace is not necessarily the absence of struggle.
Inscribe on walls in places all over our land are names of war-dead and are cemeteries filled with men and women who gave their fullest measure for the cause at the time. Tributes to war are found all around the world.
In one of many travels to Russia I visited their World War II memorial and museum located in Moscow… the memorial is a powerful witness to the tragedy of a time now gone and of the required sacrifice of millions to hold Hitler’s armies and air forces in check … all Russians continue to carry the scars of this era, but what caught my attention were the many bridle parties visiting the memorial … It is customary there for the bride and groom to travel to the nearest veteran’s memorial where the bride lays her flowers as a way of saying thank you to her ancestors who preserved her land … it is done in great seriousness and sweetness of spirit – done in remembrance of those who sacrificed their dreams that she may realize hers …
This is not a time for hero worship my friends but a time to be serious about the terrible demands a nation sometimes asks of her citizens … when we listen to their voices now silent, what are they saying to us?
When I listen to them in my heart of hearts I hear them say: Work for what we died for … work to over come that age old song that speaks of time for war and time for peace … work for the other half of that phrase that the work we have now completed will bear the fruit of peace …
The prophet Jeremiah cried out saying: They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying: Peace! Peace! When there is no peace … (6:14). Today we continue to live in a world of a false peace. Even so, peace is the task of every citizen. Even more so is this the task of those of who are veterans.
It was former Commander of Allied Forces Europe and later Commander in Chief Dwight Eisenhower who asked that the nation establish a day called Veteran’s Day. And it was he I now quote: I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than are governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of their way and let them have it …
Who better suited to take up this vision than veterans who know first hand the cost required for our freedom … It will not be easy but if we have the courage to work for peace we will find it ever more difficult but far less costly.
When we do, the voices of those named on our walls and lying in our cemeteries will finally find their wellbeing and truly rest in peace.
