Here before us lie the bodies of comrades and friends, men
who until yesterday or last week, laughed with us, trained with us, men who
were on the same ships with us, and went over the side with us as we prepared
to hit the beaches of this island. Some
of us have buried our closest friends here. We saw these men killed before our
very eyes. Any one of us might have died
in their place. Indeed some of us are
alive and breathing at this very moment only because men who lie here beneath
us had the courage and strength to give their lives for ours.
These men have done their job well. They have paid the ghastly price of
freedom. Here lie men who loved America
because their ancestors, generations ago, helped in her founding because they
themselves, or their own fathers, escaped from oppression to her blessed
shores. Here lie officers and men,
negroes and whites, rich men and poor—together.
Theirs is the highest and purest democracy. Any man among us, the
living, who fails to understand that will thereby betray those who lie here
dead.
God’s Peace to them and to you.
Chaplain, Colonel, Gary Gilbertson, USAF (Ret.)
Truly a holy moment of reflection, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gary. I am reminded of all the men and women who have served this nation, many of which are lying in graves in far off lands. Peace be with them.
ReplyDelete