Thankful on this Memorial Day

I saw a cartoon with several people complaining about the heat, the price of gas, the quality of food at a picnic. Then one guy turns around and sees a graveyard which is the final repose of soliders who have given their lives in service of their country, securing the freedom which we celebrate. He responded, "I don't think I'm going to complain about the high cost of anything this weekend."

The Art of Manliness shared a bit of the story of the Band of Brothers, World War II's Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (highlighted Stephen Ambrose’s book and the HBO miniseries). They describe them as follows...

"The men of Easy Company were a highly elite group; they made it through the demanding training of Camp Toccoa (including endless runs 3 miles up and 3 miles down Georgia’s Currahee Mountain), parachuted into Normandy for D-Day and Holland for Operation Market Garden, fought the Germans and the freezing cold in the Battle of the Bulge, liberated concentration camps, and secured the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountaintop retreat.

And yet these men never bragged about their service when they returned home. They simply got to work in building a life for themselves–enjoying their families, participating in their communities, and relishing the simple things in life."

There are now less than two million survivors of World War II alive today. If you have a chance, listen to the stories of those who have made it back from war, as we remember with gratitude those who did not. May God bless those those who serve and have served their country, and we thank the people and families of those who gave their very life in such service.