Our National Guard
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:7-8) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
WE OWE MUCH TO THE MEN AND WOMEN who have served and continue to serve in our military. I group them altogether and call them: OUR NATIONAL GUARD!
“AFTER WORLD WAR II, November 11 was recognized as a day of tribute to veterans of both wars. Beginning in 1954, the United States designated November 11 as Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars. (Google) Typing in “November 11 Holiday” brought up 3,250,000,000 results.” We are indebted to all those before us and those who wear the uniform of the United States today to defend us from armed aggression abroad. My awareness of our military began at my grandpa’s house.
AT GRANDPA AND GRANDMA RICHARD'S HOUSE, talk of the Civil War (1860-1865) erupted often, even though it was slightly before their time. To me, it was strange talk about the “Silver War.” An aunt was holding back her last sack of shelled corn as a guerilla Union soldier tried to take it away from her. He ripped open the sack with his bayonet and began pouring the corn into his bag. She quickly seized his rifle and began beating him over the head with it. He ran out the door and yelled to his buddy, let’s get out of here! This gal will fight! The rifle was loaded (they used 58 to 69 caliber bullets). I’ve examined one of those big “mini-balls.” It wouldn’t be good news. If they hit an arm or leg, it usually had to be amputated and they didn’t always have morphine.
ON THE CARR SIDE, DAD'S GRANDPA: WILLIAM CARR: was in the Battle of Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga, and as they retreated to Chickamauga, Georgia (a bloody place) he was captured and sent to a New York prison. There was a prisoner exchange and he was sent home. Some Union guerillas came by and shot him in his own front yard. His mother threw her hoop skirt over him and shamed them: “Go on! You’ve shot him! What more do you want?” They left him. His parents carried him into the house and laid him on the kitchen table. They gave him several swallows of whiskey and a stick to bite on while they dug the bullet out of him.
WILLIAM'S DADDY MADE A WOODEN COFFIN and put enough rocks in it to equal William’s weight and nailed the lid tight on the coffin. The community gathered in and attended William’s “funeral.” William stayed in a back room until he was able to ride a horse. Then, he and his fiancé’ rode two horses at night until they got to Kansas, where they were married and stayed until the war was over. Kansas was a neutral state during the war. My daddy spent a lot of time at his grandpa’s house. He sat on the floor in the door of the kitchen while his grandpa told him the stories again and again. (And my daddy told them to me.)
THEY DIDN'T TALK MUCH ABOUT WORLD WAR ONE, and I never knew why. But on a warm Sunday, December 7, 1941, we went to church at Falling Springs and that afternoon worked at moving wood into the house because the battery radio warned of a cold front moving in. The radio was also telling, repeatedly, of the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor that morning. I was seven and didn’t understand it, but the family discussion indicated that it was a big thing and very serious.
AS AMERICA READIED FOR THE INVASION OF GERMANY, we lived in the eastern tip of Tennessee: Mountain City. One day, Fort Bragg, NC began pouring American troops, trucks, tanks, artillery, and many Jeeps through that little town. Hundreds and hundreds. They were practicing maneuvers in mountain terrain before invading Germany. Eventually, they would be moving an army through the mountains and Black Forest of Germany (so we were told). Day after day. They carried their gasoline tankers with the convoy.
I WAS A 10-YEAR-OLD "SODA JERK" IN A DRUG STORE AND BUS STATION (all the usual young men were in the army). Every time a convoy came past the door of our drug store, we rushed outside and stood on the sidewalk until they rumbled by. The sight of all those soldiers and equipment passing by made a permanent memory in all of us who saw it.
THE NEWS PEOPLE NEVER ANTICIPATED THAT AMERICA WOULD PUT 17 MILLION people in uniform and turn loose America’s awesome power to manufacture a war machine in a short time. John Brookaw (Born Feb. 1940) would later write an outstanding book about “The Great Generation” that came out of the Great Depression to band together and win the greatest war that had ever been fought.
THEN CAME THE KOREAN WAR AND VIETNAM AND IRAQ and numerous “peace keeping” smaller military conflicts. It seems that once we have a war, we have to leave a lot of troops there. We still have troops in Germany, Japan, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and only the Lord and the Pentagon know where else we have soldiers. Google (Wikipedia) says “The military of the United States is deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with over 170,000 of its active-duty personnel serving outside the United States and its territories.”
WOMEN HAVE ALWAYS DONE SUPPORT WORK WITH OUR MILITARY, especially medical. But now, as women have been moved into the front lines of war, they have suffered the wounds that used to be for men-only. Our 2nd picture today shows just a few wounded war women with artificial limbs. In our War on Terror since 2001, 149 women have died in combat. I urge you to read this article: https://www.cmrlink.org/sitrep/full/grim-toll-of-military-women-killed-in-war
Read Through the Bible in a Year
NOVEMBER 11, 2019 - MONDAY
A.M Lamentations 3-5 P.M Hebrews 8
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verse to Memorize:
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalms 33:12)
Song for Today:
The Star-Spangled Banner- Concert Band and Soldiers' Chorus (1:44)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DADmZdbQ9x8
You may have to adjust the volume and delete Ad