Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his
friends.
This morning I watched an interview with Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, America’s most
recent Medal of Honor recipient. He spoke humbly of his actions in battle
against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Eight soldiers did not survive that attack
as fifty-three Americans were outmanned and outgunned approximately six to one.
Staff Sgt. Romesha, along with twenty-one
others, was wounded. Yet, he continued to fight and with passionate affection to
retrieve the bodies of his fallen American brothers in arms. The President called the actions of those
fighting that day, “sacrifice driven by pure love”. I agree.
As I watched the interview, my mind
flashed back to the war of my generation—Vietnam. I thought of friends lost in
battle. I still remember where I stood each time I received the bad news. I
thought of friends who came home “messed up” from all they encountered over
their months of swampy marshes, guerilla warfare and Agent Orange. The average
age of the on-the-ground soldier in Vietnam has been estimated at between
nineteen and twenty.
My father, a WWII Veteran, served in the
south pacific where he contracted malaria. As a child, I remember seeing the residual
chills and shakes from that disease He
kept what he encountered locked up inside, but as I grew older I realized that war
had changed him from an innocent young farm boy into a man who had seen things
none of us want to know about.
So, on this Valentine’s Day, as we think
about love, I salute the men and women of the United States of America’s Armed
Forces. I thank you for your service, your battle scars, your wounds, and some
of you—your life. I thank you for your love of country and fellow citizens. I
thank you because when called upon you exhibit that great true love that calls
you to lay down your life for your friends. I thank you.
May God bless our military and may God bless The United States of
America.
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