No one has greater love, no one has shown stronger affection than to lay down, give up his own life for his friends. John 15:13
Memorial Day Is…
What does Memorial Day mean to me? What does Memorial Day mean to you? What does Memorial Day mean to us? The answer that I have comes from a perspective of being a military daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, wife, sister, aunt, and mother. My military family life spans many different venues and relationships. Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy, Secret Service, and CIA. These are the different branches my family members have served in and the common denominator between these, that I have experienced is sacrifice, sacrifice of life, ways, means, time, health, emotions and freedoms. Memorial Day is for honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but it also evokes the memories of the everyday sacrifices that are taken for granted and not remembered enough when a military family faces the ultimate sacrifice. This is where my thoughts today lean into as I muse on Memorial Day and write down my thoughts.
Honor Is A Huge Part Of Memorial Day
Memorial Day to me is a day to honor and remember the many sacrifices of those that serve the freedom of all of us. The ultimate sacrifice of life is a giving up of their living of their life now and the giving up of the life they should have lived. There are those who give up some freedoms, for you to experience and enjoy your liberties, and there are those who gave up all. How does this look? How does it play out in the lives of people? The military and their families give up many liberties and our freedom is serviced by their daily sacrifice. I honor military families today, this is what Memorial Day means to me. I honor every single sacrifice they make and I grieve deeply with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. These are amazing Americans and today, I give honor to whom honor is so due and promise we will not forget them or the ultimate sacrifice and the many other sacrifices along their tour of duty that they and their families made.
Freedom Paid For By Personal Sacrifices…
Military families give up so much for our freedom, we just have no idea. They give up personal freedoms so they can be ready to serve in season and out of season, in a most excellent way, to be a disciplined, strong, mighty, courageous, honorable force that protects, defends and is willing to lay down their lives for the liberty of this great nation. We are free because someone is daily paying the price, laying down their liberties to fuel our freedom. Military families pay a huge price of laying down their rights to protect, defend and service our independence. They don’t have all the freedoms we do. They go where they are told, they live where they are stationed, and they give up their choice to choose what they wear, how they look, how long they work and where they can go. Their time belongs to the government, they train daily, and they are always schooling, learning new ways to protect us with excellence. They travel to foreign lands away from their country and their families for months at a time. When their military spouse pays the ultimate sacrifice, they lose so much that can’t be restored or repaid and their family is thrust from military life to civilian life, a choice they don’t make. Freedom isn’t free and we the people owe a debt to our military and military families that we can’t even begin to pay them back for.
Military Families In Flux…
When I think about change, transition and flux, no other families are more touched by this than a military family. To be a person who is responsible to defend, protect and provide for the liberty of others, is a person and a family that knows all kinds of sacrifice and flux. They miss their children’s birth, they miss their first birthdays, they miss holidays with their families and they miss chunks of family life as they are deployed, sometimes 12 months at a time, away from their family. The military spouse becomes a single parent, who is not only raising a family alone, but is responsibly maintaining a civility of emotion while they know their other half is in imminent danger every single day. They learn to communicate over satellite phones where the conversation is choppy at best and things said are never adequate or equal to the reality at hand. Military families learn to adjust in their family lives every 9 months, where they either become a single parented family or they become a family unit again, fine-tuning the art of being together after long absences. These military family units are in flux constantly, as they are at the will of the government and they move from base to base every 3 or so years, so our troops can be fresh and stay ready to fight for our freedom. Changing homes, schools, doctors, communities, churches and friends more than many of have ever had to do.
The Definition Of Sacrifice…
Sacrifice defines our military, a little bit every single day, they sacrificially serve and many of them make the ultimate sacrifice that changes their families forever. Ultimate sacrifice to me is a death and sometimes that death is not final, as our wounded warriors come home so changed by war, physically and emotionally that something inside of them has died and a way of life for their family has been changed forever. Memories of the way it used to be, nostalgia, grief and heartache is what these families live with, adjusting to a new way of life forced upon them because war has stolen from them something that they will never get back. War changes a lot of things and we all pay the consequences of war, but never as much as a military family does. We forget that, we need to remember it, remember these families who have sacrificed way too much as the cost of war has been more than they wanted to or could pay. Their family life is altered forever in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.
The Sting Of War Time…
Memorial Day is a day to honor the sacrifices of our military and their families. The everyday sacrifices that temper their freedoms and affect every family member, to the ultimate sacrifices that change the face of their family forever. The atrocities of the wars we have been fighting over the last years have altered many families, changing them forever with the sting of sacrifice that never quits. This is the sacrifice I have known and seen as a military family member and this is the substance of my Memorial Day Tribute to the United States Military. We honor your sacrifices, military families, all of them.
The Memories Of War, That Stay With You Forever…
I have many memories and still am making memories of the sacrifice of the military life. I have seen and experienced much of the expense and the toll it takes for military families to service our freedom during war time. My heart goes out to all of them as the memory pictures in my mind and the wounded emotions of my soul, know the true meaning of Memorial Day. In my mind thoughts of memory, I see the families standing on the tarmacs waiting for their loved ones to leave on the buses that will take them off to war. They are having final conversations that could absolutely be the last talk that they have on this side of heaven. It is an ominous experience. I have experienced the final hugs and goodbyes, the kiss on the cheek from a son, which remains a memory of the person that left, that did not come back the same or did not come back at all. The memory of the soldiers holding of little babies on one shoulder and their guns on the other shoulder as they waited to leave them for 9 months, saying goodbye to a one month old, returning to a year old. Watching your loved one board the bus and watching that bus till it was out of sight while your heart is crushed by the weight of what is ahead and you feel like you can’t breathe. I remember waiting to hear something, anything for three weeks to over months from our loved ones, who we knew did not go one day without being shot at by an enemy, whose daily one intent was to kill and destroy Americans. I remember the many satellite phone calls at 2am in the morning, barely being able to make out what was said as my soldier calling home for encouragement and love, wanting something to feed the courage and endurance to face the next day of war. I remember the many, many holidays, birthdays, Mother’s Day where there was an empty place in our home and where our hearts were being stretched over seas.
The Sacrifices Of Regulation…
I remember our family life that constantly, regulated by the sacrifices contained in deployments in theatre and training at home. Our family life could never be never be classified as normal. Our address books were kept in pencil. I think now of a three year old, whose little friends are gone, moved to a new base and that little three year old, he doesn’t understand the why, but deals with missing his friends who are no longer there. Our times together as a family were treasured moments and few and far apart. There were never plans that were not interrupted by the call of duty and the commitment of staying trained to be the better, so we could have the best fighting force in the world and be a country who stayed free. I remember times when my soldier could not travel more than 100 miles from the base and they had to file their travel plans before they left and could not deviate from them. I remember the times when they had to be back at a specific time after the holidays to sign in and the rush to get back in time, always in holiday traffic. Their time was not their own. Even when they were away for a break, they could be called back at a moment’s notice. Our family life had one specific trait, it was always a “hurry up and wait” at the will of the Government.
The Toll Paid For Freedom…
Memorial Day is remembering the cost of freedom and those who pay the price every single day. It is not just about soldiers, it is about soldiers and their families. I am honored to be a part of a military family, there are no greater people in the world. The military family life is a life of sacrifice, discipline and courage that stretches you beyond what you ever thought was imaginable. The loss and cost during war time plays out as the hardship on the military family is enhanced and you are stretched beyond measure. But, it is also a life of satisfaction and joy as the sacrifices made are always rewarded by seeing the results of freedom, the liberties that everyone in this country fully enjoys.
The Memories That Evoke Honor…
Memorial Day, I remember and I honor those who paid the sacrifice for my freedom that I enjoy. This is my main focus. But, I also honor and remember military wives and husbands, managing their families, so courageously, so honorably while waiting to hear if the helicopter that went down was their family member. I remember packing Christmas boxes for our soldiers overseas, putting all the love and hope we could fit in a box and mailing them, hoping they reached our soldier by Christmas. I remember the letters from the battle field that came so few and far apart, but when they came, they were like a treasure for our family, that were handled like gold and read and re read by everyone in the family. I remember waiting to pick up my son, watching the soldiers being carried off of the medical transport and then seeing him come off the plane bandaged and broken, knowing that everything had changed and not knowing the years of surgeries, mental, and physical adjustments our family would make and the toll it would take on everyone, as our wounded warrior fully recovered.
The Military Family Life…
Memorial Day, I remember the sacrifices. I remember all the comings and goings of our military family life and the in-betweens and reunions where sacrifices were always marking, altering and changing our family forever, because of the toll of the cost of their commitment to this country was paid with personal freedoms, sacrificed for others. I will never forget the hefty price military families pay during times of war. I still remember my knees giving out on me and falling to floor in front of the television when I realized we had declared war on Iraq, knowing my son was there. I spent hours on my knees in prayer for him, waiting six agonizing weeks before I heard from him again, but when I did, he was changed as he had faced so much, said goodbye to so many of his fellow soldiers, even held one in his arms as he died and heard his final wish to tell his wife and children that he loved them. I am a military mom, I have heard and experienced much from this time of war and I will never be the same. I remember much of the cost of war, some of my memories are painful, some are grateful and most are inspired by a military force of greatness that I love and honor so much. Memorial Day is somber and hopeful to me, knowing the price paid by our family is ongoing, and knowing the God of our lives will never leave us or forsake us. We pray Psalm 91 for all our military families and ask you to join in with us.
Remembering The Sacrifices…
This is Memorial Day, from my perspective, it is a day to remember sacrifice and those who make it so that we can be free. I remember my Uncle Chub, who was shot down, his body never recovered. I remember my grandfather, an incredible patriot who left His family December 7th and was not reunited with them for two years. I remember my dad, who never finished his high school, never graduated, but went out to sea on a Navy ship instead, to defend our country and fight for our liberty. I remember my uncles who flew in the Air Force, sacrificing so much time away from their families and fighting to preserve our liberties. I remember my husband who fought in the jungles of Viet Nam, who left a piece of his soul there, a place that he can’t ever go too, that changed him forever. I remember my son, whose body, soul and spirit have paid the price of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I remember all my family members, grandfather, uncles, father, husband, brothers, nephews, cousins who have paid a huge price for my freedom, who families have sacrificed much. I honor them because I have never known men and women more courageous, honorable and incredible then them.
Honoring The Sacrifices…
I remember every member of my family and how much they loved this country and sacrificed for her liberty with honor, courage and incredible excellence to the duty to defend her. With each person in my military family, I have so many memories of so many personal costs paid, that come with lives lived with sacrifice, courage, honor and excellence. I remember and memorialize their losses and their victories. It is a day to honor their sacrifices, the little, the big, the ultimate ones, all such sacrifices that are made daily for us. Our family has experienced them all. Memorial Day is to honor the warriors and their families, sacrificing their freedoms for our liberties. May their sacrifices never go unremembered, may they always be honored.
Romans 13:7 Pay all of them what you owe. If you owe taxes, then pay. If you owe fees, then pay. In the same way, give honor and respect to those who deserve it. The Voice
This was a difficult thing to write about because I am a military family member and have been all of my life. I have many memories, they all seem to gush up on Memorial Day, memories of great sacrifices made, celebrated victories and mourned defeats. There are so many that I can’t even put my thoughts together clearly, but the one thought supersedes them all and I hope that this piece I wrote today on Memorial Day, brings out that this day is a day of honoring and remembering all the sacrifices made, where small, medium, big and ultimate sacrifices made to serve, protect and defend our liberty are never forgotten. KimberlyMac AKA MommaMac to many soldiers who I have loved and encouraged over the years. God bless each of you and your families… MUCH! Please share this post on the Military Table in the Bridegroom’s Café with others, so they can be informed and encouraged. Use the social media buttons below. Please also leave a comment of those you know who have served this country, so we can honor and thank them. Thank you. Keep praying for our country, the United States of America.