The U.S. Veteran- The World's Most Powerful Weapon

Veteran's Day November 11, it's almost forgotten and certainly underated as a holiday. But that is merely a sad indictment of our culture. From fighting the British redcoats during the Revolutionary War to the battlefields of Gettysburgh, Vicksburg, and Appomatox Courthouse during the Civil War to the Armistice of World War I from the Battle of Iwo Jima and slamming the beaches of Normandy, from Korea and Vietnam the first Gulf War to our present War on Terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq and wherever it may take out troops in the future, the world has never seen the likes of the American Soldier!

Men who have willingly put their lives and futures on the line for their families and their country but also for you and me, people who are to most of them strangers. And they do all of this VOLUNTARILY, nobody has forced them to serve. Now, I know that we have had a draft in the past, and I am certainly not opposed to having it in the future if the need arises, but most of our soldiers who have fought for our country have done so by enlisting voluntarily.

It is the American Soldier that is the world's most powerful weapon. More powerful than the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima nad Nagasoki at the conclusion of World War 2. More powerful than the nuclear arsenals that are in existence today and certainly more potent than the cowardly terrorists that would desire to see the end of America as we know it (see Afghanistan and Iraq).

It has to do with duty, honor and respect. The core values of the American Soldier, Airman, Marine, Sailor and Coast Guardsman. It has to do with heart, something no weapon or terrorist has.

Our Veterans have always been so effective in their missions because they have fought for what so few before them have ever fought for- freedom. Ronald Reagan told the story of one of our Navy ships in the south Pacific being approached by a small flotilla of homemade rafts of exiles leaving their oppresive governments. As the ship came along side these refugees they heard one shout in broken english, "Hello, Freedom man!". That is the American Veteran- a freedom man.

I am the grandson of two World War 2 veterans. I also am a veteran of the United States Coast Guard from 1996-2000. It is one the proudest achievements of my life. I am very proud that I served my country, and I hope that my son might follow me one day and serve his country in the Coast Guard. Some of the finest people that I have ever met were the men that I served alongside on board of a Coast Guard Cutter and then at a Coast Guard base. I hope that they can say the same about me. In fact, I still keep up with a few of them to this day. But I have also met many wonderful people who served in the other branches of our military.

In this month that we pause to give thanks to God for all of our blessings, remember to thank Him for the American Veteran. And if you get the chance, personally thank those veterans who have served in years past and thank those who are actively serving today.

Jesus' words in Matthews gospel are very true and appropriate "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." And the American soldier has called each of us friend.