A Tribute to Soldiers
29 May 2006
One of my favorite poems is Carl Sandburg’s “Grass.” It tells how those who have fallen in war are soon forgotten by the world. The innumerable graves of the fallen are soon covered by grass and the world becomes oblivious to there whereabouts, as well as to the location of the great battlefields upon which so many forgotten soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice. Today, with history no longer being retold, but rewritten, and with war being vilified by politically correct pacifists, Sandburg’s poem is truer than ever. Indeed, many are reluctant to remember the fallen for fear of being perceived as a fan of war.
Although no one should wish for war, everyone should realize war’s inevitability. Our Lord guaranteed us that there would be “wars and rumors of wars” until the end of time (Matthew 24:6-7). As long as there is evil in this sin-cursed, fallen world, evil will have to be fought; otherwise, evil will take the world. Therefore, today’s politically correct pacifists are merely wishful thinkers denying the inevitable. They are, as C. S. Lewis once quipped, “taking the straight road to a world in which there will be no pacifists.”
According to John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, “It's the soldier, not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press. It's the soldier, not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech. It's the soldier, not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate. It's the soldier, who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!“
On this Memorial Day, let’s be careful to remember the soldier—those who have fallen let us remember in our hearts and those presently fighting let us remember in our prayers. To fail to remember those to whom so much is owed would be horribly amiss on our part.
Don Walton
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