Memorial Day, The Bible tells us…..

Memorial Day, The Bible Tells us….. By Betty Fritz

The Bible tells us in Matt. 24:6 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars….”

My dad served in the Army during WWI and my oldest brother served in Korea. I don’t remember either of them ever talking a lot about their experiences or hearing any “war stories”. Dad did lose some hearing in one ear due to an explosion and an encounter with a mobile “kitchen” left him with a slight limp. The fighting had stopped when my brother arrived in Korea. His was among the many units deployed as clean-up crews. His first son was born while he was overseas and was 22 months old when he came home. I was six years old at the time but do remember them coming to visit shortly after he was discharged

The next war I remember was in Vietnam. I watched on TV, the families sending their 18 and 19 year-old sons off to fight. These were just kids… my age. Three of them from my small hometown in Texas lost their lives along with thousands of others. Hippies and protesters on the news carried signs saying: “Make love, not war.” News was filled with reports of more casualties every day. I prayed it would end and our boys come home. Then one day I heard it: “The war is over.”…That was it. No stories in the weeks to come showing our soldiers coming home, no fanfare or footage of families rushing to the airports to meet their loved ones.

What had happened to our country? They were blaming our soldiers for a war they said should never have happened. Our veterans were being accused of bringing drugs into the country, killing innocent women and children….People, I thought, it was a war. People get killed in a war. What had they expected? It was the government that sent them over there to fight for a country that evidently didn’t think they needed help. This to me was not the country I grew up in. All through school we’d been taught that communism was our worst enemy and must be fought against no matter what. Wasn’t that what this war had been about, keeping communism contained and away from our door? How dare anyone treat our soldiers with anything but respect?

Finally things settled down and we enjoyed several years of peace. The cold war ended and slowly our patriotism began to return. Honoring our flag and our military men and women was the right thing to do again. When Operation Dessert Storm was launched in 1990 we were pretty much united in our efforts to free Kuwait from the likes of Saddam Hussein…. which was the beginning of the Gulf War. Casualties this time were few because of the use of missiles and other more sophisticated weapons and “smart bombs.” The possible use of nuclear weapons was our greatest fear.

Then 9/11 happened….our country was devastated by a terrorist attack. Americans were united in grief and knowing that somebody HAD to pay for this terrible act of war upon our homeland. President, George W. Bush praised our unity and did his best to calm our wounded and hurting nation while it was being determined exactly who had ordered this attack. Soon our troops were being sent into Iraq and Afghanistan and a search for Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban and Al qaeda terrorists began.

As this Memorial Day arrives our country is at odds with many nations in the Middle East. Isis, another group of Islam terrorists, are on the rise. Our President, Barack Obama, has chosen to “lead from behind” by providing training and weapons to Iraq and others being attacked daily. It looks like their next target will be Israel…God’s chosen people and our strongest ally in the Middle East.

However we decide to spend this Memorial day, let us all remember those who gave their lives to protect our freedoms and this land we love. Pray for our leaders and our country, but mostly pray for the military men and women who voluntarily step up to defend us. Never has such evil lurked so close to home before. As we pray let us remember God’s promise in Hebrews 13:5…”I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” May God Bless America again.

About Betty Fritz:

My name is Betty Fritz. I was born and raised in Texas but have resided in Elkhart, Indiana for the last 25 years. My husband is a Hoosier so that’s how we wound up here. We have two daughters and a son plus 6 grand kids…..3 boys and 3 girls.

I retired last year after working for 24 years at Elkhart Child Development Center. I’ve been writing since a teenager and have taken several writing courses. I enjoy writing short stories. I wrote a book of poems, RHYMES OF THE TIMES, which was published a few years ago. I have written countless songs, a few for which demo recordings have been made. Recently I’ve been writing blogs..most of them about my faith and things the Lord has taught me in my Christian life over the last 51 years. My inspiration comes from my personal relationship with Jesus Christ and my desire to see that my grand children grow up in a Christian nation. My goal is to bring glory to Him and help others to see that there is POWER in the name of JESUS!