The Rev. Cn. Carl Andrews
For the Veterans who served us, and for the families, and loved ones who stood by them...Thanks be to God. Amen.
Sermon – 12 November 2023
The word from Job:
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last he will stand upon the earth. After my awaking, he will raise me up; and in my body I shall see God. I myself shall see, and my eyes behold him who is my friend and not a stranger.”
“My friend and not a stranger.” Those in uniform have a special relationship with their Redeemer, for in one way or another they will face the wrong end of a weapon.
We, military, know that we must have a strong spiritual element to our lives, something that gives us meaning, meaning in the face of death and meaning in the face of life.
The internal scars I gathered from pulling the trigger are noteworthy and the scars I carry from someone working systemically to kill me, are another.
Now let’s put another twist to this….
A slightly difference version than everything I needed to learn about life I learned in Kindergarten – everything I ever needed to learn about life I learned in Vietnam.
Once you are in a firefight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea.
Never get into a fight without more ammunition than the other guy.
Helicopters are cool.
The madness of war can extract a heavy tool – please have exact change.
If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, you’re about to be surprised.
It does too, get cold in Vietnam.
Combat pay is a flawed concept.
Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day, beats the alternative.
Air superiority is not a luxury.
Loud noises will get your undivided attention.
No matter what you do, the bullet with your name on it, will get you, and so can too the one that is addressed “To whom it may concern.”
Cover your buddy, so they can be around to cover you.
A box of cookies from home must always be shared.
Always make sure someone has a P-38.
C-4 can a make a dull day fun.
There is no such thing a small firefight – unless you were not there.
Thousands of Veterans earned medals for bravery everyday, a few even got awarded.
For them it was yesterday -- Veteran’s day:
You might be a veteran; if your spouse or children responds to “hooah” and understands what it means regardless of the context you present it in.
You might be a veteran if: you have no problem when a two year old you don’t know, grabs your legs when you are in battledress uniform and says “Daddy or Mommy”
You might be a veteran if: if the history channel is your favorite channel.
You might be a veteran if: If Pork Chop Hill or Hamburger Hill, Kabul or Omaha beach is not some exotic location.
This is Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, Veterans Day. It is not a feast of any church or synagogue or temple or masque.
And was set aside to mark the end of the Great War, the First World War, the war that was to end all war.
But wars came back to haunt us, and war haunts us still. And so we ask men and women to serve our country, and it doesn’t matter whether in time of war or in time of peace. That is why the day honors veterans and reminds us that those who serve must trust that their lives will not be spent needlessly. All give some, but some give all!
Today’s gospel speaks to the five wise and five foolish — it speaks about preparation and planning ahead for the timing of the bridegroom — military can do all the planning we want, but there is one thing that you are really not prepared for — war. It is not the time to ask your buddy for his/her ammo — it is time for your own planning.
I grew up with a vet -- except he did not retire from the Air Force till just before I put on a uniform and went to Vietnam. Dad flew Spitfires in the Royal Air Force and P-47s, USAAF in the second WW 11, and served with Patton. I did not realize till late in my life that my father grew up with another vet -- my grandfather, who homesteaded near Carbondale CO, but still died from wounds from the WW1. After my father was an orphan at age 6, he was sent to live with my great-grandfather, yet another Vet from the Spanish American war. And his father was in one of Ohio Regiments for the Civil War. And we have found in family history that there were others that go back to wearing a blue uniform at the time of General Washington.
I personally have I guess done four wars, Vietnam, Serbia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Probably you could count being in the Pentagon on 9 -11 for 86 hours as just another day.
Then there is my daughter, once in uniform another Vet as well.
Those in uniform know the bottom-line, we are there to protect our nation, our loved ones and the one beside us. All of us give some, but some give all!
One of things that I have grown to learn in war, is that it is hell. No movie, no medal can glorify it, but we the US military still do what our country asks. We step into the breech. Yes, we are patriots, and we do what is necessary. It is not one of those jobs when we say, I have had enough and want to go home. Whether you are Coast Guard, Navy, Marine, Army, Air Force, or Space Force you just do it. All of us give some, but some give all!
Some vets today will be thanked for their service to country; some will be ignored, some of us will see signs by schools like I did yesterday on University Blvd thanking vets. One of the signs even said “Freedom is not Free -- so thank a Vet!”
Let’s pause for a moment and reflect on just what it means to be a veteran.
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service. A missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.
Others may carry the evidence inside of themselves, a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg – or perhaps another sort of inner steel – the soul forged in God who saved them, both in both body and soul on the field.
Except in parades, and then only rarely, the men and women who have served their country wear no badge or emblem. You can’t tell a vet just by looking. But most vets recognize another vet.
Most veterans live quietly and anonymously among us. They are our grandparents to some, parents to their and brothers and sisters to many. Just who is a veteran?
A veteran might be the elderly gentleman at the supermarket – palsied now and aggravatingly slow – who helped liberate a Nazi death camp in W.W.II and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold when the nightmares come.
He is the retiring businessman whose co-workers never guessed that behind his quiet demeanor is the hero of four hours of exquisite bravery against near impossible odds, -- 50 plus years ago Friday in the bitter cold, near the 38th parallel of Korea.
She – he is the nurse who fought against the futility and went to sleep every night for a solid year in the heat of Vietnam, crying.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back another – or didn’t come back all.
The knock code, that was taught between US Prisoners of War in the Hanoi Hilton. It was three letters -- G B U. God bless You! The POWs got it, and understood the need for that spiritual element, that spiritual fitness that was the corner stone of them surviving day-to-day.
Veterans – both in and out of uniform. Thank you.
Some time ago, my bride and I were on Omaha beach, and visited the national cemetery there, there were bus loads of kids there from France and England. I expected there would be noise and running around, after all they were pretty young. But in all cases, I heard a school teachers, who were no more than 30 themselves, saying in French and English, “Respect these, remember these, honor these -- you are free today due to their willingness to die for you, me and our countries.”
I have held the hand of a number of our brothers and sisters in uniform, I have buried a number of those as well. But when, we bury them with words we use the words from Job:
As we honor the men and women that have gone before us, who have serve and given their lives, we must also honor their faith, that gave them the courage to so do. I pray that our relationship with our friend who is not a stranger to us, our redeemer, will give us all the courage in the face of death and life.
All of us give some, but some give all! So as we honor those who have gone before us, we thank them, we thank God for them, but we also thank God for walking with them, giving them the courage in their Spiritual life, to do the impossible, to reach so far beyond themselves, in their sacrifice. So yes, we need to thank a Vet today for their service, but also we need to thank God for His presence with them and us to do the impossible. G B U! G B U the Vets and thank you God for walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death and for walking with us today. Amen