I am thanking my God at every remembrance of you.
Philippians 1: 3, Concordant New Testament
On this the day that we memorialize those we have lost I found it difficult to stake my memory to anyone I have known who has given their life in defense of this nation. Granted, I have known many who have served in the military. My own father did his stint in the navy before returning home once again. Yet Memorial Day is not for the remembrance of the soldiers only, but of friends and loved ones as well. The closest I have ever come to military service is a burning interest in military history. However, one moment from my childhood continues to resonate with me to this day. It seems that my mother and I were having dinner one night when her youngest son made the bold, brash statement that I wanted to fight in a war. I won't forget the look on my mother's face in that moment. You would think that someone had just stabbed her in the heart. Perhaps I had in some round a bout way. For the longest time I could not understand her reaction. In my eyes, what could be better than serving one's country by fighting in a war? This was how heroes were made, right? Years later I began to understand how she was feeling in that moment. This was the late 1970's, and the nation was still reeling from the images of the war in Vietnam. Night after night, my parents were witness to the battlefield images of young Americans wounded in battle. Each day, more flag draped caskets came home bearing the remains of another young man who, possibly, had dreamed of fighting in a war when he was young. Obviously, my mother didn't want such a fate for her youngest son. She would later confide in me that her fears only subsided when I had passed the age of being drafted into the military. I get it. I have always liked war movies. However, what the movies often can never duplicate is the pain, horror and loss of battle. I never got my chance to serve, but I have known many who have. One thing I know for certain is that being in the military definitely changes a person.
"When I get home people will ask me, 'Hey Hoot, why do you do it, man? Why? You some kind of war junkie?' "I won't say a goddamn word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you. That's it. That's all it is."
Sfc Norm "Hoot" Hooten 1SFODD
Despite not having anyone close to me who gave their life for the nation, each Memorial Day I take the opportunity to think of my mother who left to be with her Lord in 2016. I take the opportunity to recall my father and his service to the country. It is part of the burden which we who are left behind shoulder, that we remember those who have passed before us. We remember them not only for heroic actions, but for the lives they touched while they were here with us. I never knew the extent of the friendships my mother had achieved until I saw the condolences after she passed. One life that touched so many others. This is what we remember. Jesus calls upon us to let our light shine for all to see {Matthew 5:16}. To understand His words fully we must understand who that light represents. The apostle Paul speaks to us in Galatians that it is Christ Jesus who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}. Knowing this, I believe that we are called to let Christ Jesus within us shine for all to see. The world may never know Christ Jesus if He is not revealed through those who truly know Him. We remember those who have gone before us. We rejoice that Christ has welcomed them home at last.
Thus let shine your light before men, so that they may perceive your ideal acts and should glorify your Father who is in the heavens.
Matthew 5: 16, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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