Veterans Day: Not Ordinary Holiday

[Richard]

From the Cape Cod Times.

Richard

Veterans Day: Not Ordinary Holiday
REV. John Holt, Cape Cod Times, 7 Nov 2009

I was channel "surfing" one afternoon when I came across a program on the National Geographic (NatGeo) channel. It was about a Green Beret unit serving in Afghanistan. A film crew was imbedded with the unit in order to record its experience.

Other than a very brief stint in the mid-'70s as a member of an ROTC unit, I have had little contact with "things" military.

In truth, I am about as close to being a pacifist as one can be without ruling out the possibility that an evil power can arise in the world that, for the sake of justice, must be brought down. Nevertheless, I found the Green Beret documentary riveting. I was deeply affected by it.

From a "somewhat" secure outpost surrounded by walls and barbed wire and in the middle of nowhere, a Green Beret patrol ventures forth in heavily armored vehicles. Their mission is to provide security for the people who live in the villages nearby.

The strategy is that if the people in the villages feel safe, the Taliban will lose its influence and peace will result. They pursue this mission by befriending the people of the villages and by identifying and capturing (or killing) the Taliban who operate in the area. It sounds easy. The problem, as the documentary clearly demonstrates, is that the Green Berets are never sure who the enemy is.

The enemy plants roadside bombs or launches sneak attacks on the Green Berets, and then they just blend back into the population. Never knowing who the enemy is or when they will attack, results in a mission that is not only extremely dangerous, but stressful beyond belief.

The documentary ends with the NatGeo cameras filming a roadside bombing. The bomb destroys one of the armored vehicles. Tragically, one soldier is killed instantly. Another is burned over 90 percent of his body and dies a few days later in a military hospital. The unit is devastated by the deaths. They weep over a flagged draped coffin. An impromptu memorial service is led by their commanding officer. Then, they are dismissed to get on with the mission; to leave their outpost in the middle of nowhere in order to provide security for the people living in that troubled land.

After watching that documentary, I will never again view Veterans Day as a holiday. For me, it will be a day to remember the unbelievable sacrifice and the agonizing heartbreak experienced by so many in our military. I ask myself, "How can these men and women ever return to normal?"

It is simply miraculous that most of our returning veterans do return to live healthy and productive lives, but sadly for some of our veterans, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and addiction take their toll. The suicide rate is higher than normal among our veterans and some end up depressed and homeless.

Which leads me to this question: "What in God's name can we do for our veterans?" Two things that we in the religious community can do are to openly express appreciation for their service and provide space"...sanctuary.

We can open our buildings and our hearts to our veterans. We can provide a place for them to meet, talk and to support one another. I cannot speak for the all the religious communities on the Cape, but I can speak for Osterville United Methodist Church. We will gladly provide hospitality to any group of veterans who need a place to meet. We promise we will not try to "convert" them to our brand of religion. I am certain that most of the religious communities on the Cape would do the same for our veterans in a heartbeat.

Every Sunday we pray for our military men and women who are in harm's way. We also pray for their families who await anxiously their safe return. The "rightness or wrongness" of any war is matter of public debate, but after seeing that NatGeo documentary, the one thing not negotiable is for us to ignore the sacrifice and pain that too many of our veterans have experienced.

Therefore, in our church, we will pray weekly for our veterans who have given at great cost a "piece" of their lives so that all of us may walk this God's earth free and equal.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pb...LIFE/911070352

[PedOncoDoc]

Great find, Richard!

I'll admit I was pleasantly surprised to see this article vcoming out of Cape Cod which has been a dem stronghold for decades. A good friend of mine has family up there that have rpoerted feeling ostracized when walking to the lone reupbilcan voting booth in the corner during elections.