“They Got It For Us!”

Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

In the early years of our marriage, Randy and I pretty much lived a pretty frugal life while he finished Emory and I taught school. Vacations were pretty much non existent, but the summer that he graduated, we (he) decided to take a road trip in our little Datsun pick up truck up to some northern states of America.

This part of the country (as I later learned) was chosen because of the battles which had been fought during the Civil War. Randy was a history/political science major until his plans changed, and he still has a passion for any kind of history.

As we stood that day on the fields of Gettysburg, and I listened as he outlined that battle for me in detail, I could not fathom all the soldiers who laid down their lives for their comrades.

Many years later, as we stood on the shores of Normandy looking in awe at the now serene stretches of beaches, it was unfathomable that this was the setting of one of the biggest battles in World War II. The total loss of life was estimated to be over 200,000.

Memorial Day started during the Civil War when women began decorating the graves of soldiers who had died in that war as a way of honoring their dead. Today we celebrate Memorial Day as a holiday set aside to honor all American personnel who have died in every war in this country’s history.

When Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the United States, he made it a habit to tour the great battlefields which are part of our history. Fields such as the battle of Gettysburg, the Battlefield of Valley Forge, and hundreds of others like these have become hallowed soil where thousands of Americans have died either to preserve freedom, prevent aggression, or keep in tact the union of American states.

During a tour of the Battlefield of Valley Forge where the President was being shown from one historic spot to another, he made this statement at the conclusion of the tour: “This is where they got it for us!”

What did he mean? He meant that those men and women and thousands of others in all the wars that America has fought, purchased by their blood, the freedoms that we enjoy today.

These battlefields of the world today are hallowed and holy to every American, and we should pause to give them our highest honors humbly realizing the sacred trust that these, our war dead have handed to us.

How do we honor today the freedom that has been bought by the blood of these courageous men and women? First, live a life that an American ought to live, one that is based on Christian principles. Remember that our forefathers founded this country on those principles.

Next, be aware of the price of freedom. When we get too many generations away from those who fought and died for our freedom, we tend to forget and take our freedoms for granted. We think every country lives this way, but life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are precious gifts.

Finally, remember that we have an obligation to teach our children what it cost others for the freedom they enjoy. Don’t allow the history of this great country to be forgotten.

Billy Graham tells a story of a young Korean boy whose spine had been torn away by a shell blast. He was unable to change his position; and if he lived, he would spend the rest of his life lying on his stomach. The medics patched him up, and as Mr. Graham held his hand the young man said, “It was worth it all if it will keep America free.”

Remember the courage and bravery of our soldiers and spend some time today thanking God for their courage, bravery, and service. These people are part of an elite group that must never be forgotten. Remember, they “got our freedom for us.”

The battlefields of the world today are, or should be, hallowed and holy to every American, and we pause on this Memorial Day to give them our highest honors, humbly realizing the sacred trust that these, our war dead, have handed to us. Billy Graham