We Remember the Fallen

Over the last couple of years from time to time I have talked about how important it is for us to remember the fallen and the wounded troops that have served our country. They have put their lives on hold, left their families behind to fight for their nation. Some have had four or five deployments in a row. For a country that keeps talking about family values—do we not have any idea what these disruptions are doing to these families? And we hear horror stories of many wounded that return and the difficulties they have with re-entry. Many have found it hard to find a job. Many wait weeks or months for treatments. This is one of the reasons that some of these brave men and women keep going back to Iraq and Afghanistan for yet another year or more.

I have a hunch that when we look back that we will have to call this war—the sacrifice-less war. While our troops serve valiantly—we go about our lives scarcely thinking about those in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have been told that this is the first war that our nation has fought without raising taxes. Yet—we at home grumble at the very idea of raising taxes. This war on terror has just about bankrupted this country. Someone said recently that Congress should adopt a resolution that we will not enter another war without asking the nation to do their part—which means paying the bills. During the Bush years the cost of the war was not even included in the national budget. This would be like saying here is our household budget but we left out the house and car payments.

So some of my blog pieces have nudged you to join me in not forgetting all those who have given their lives or given years of their lives for those of us back at home. We must remember the fallen. Just this week I read about two young men that grew up at our church in South Carolina who have started an organization to help us remember. It is called Sea2Sea. These two young men are part of a team that will bicycle across England and the United States—traveling 4200 miles to raise money and consciousness for this worthy effort. I hope you’ll read their web site, contribute to their cause—which really is our cause—and remember them on their journey.

They say they hope to raise 5 million dollars for the United Kingdom and 10 million for the wounded in this country. Every once in while something comes along that makes you glad you are part of the human community. These two young men and their colleagues certainly should make us all proud. As you go about your work and your life—never forget the fallen. They are our neighbors, friends, sons and daughters—children and parents of a great many. The writer Joan Didion says in one of her books: “When we lose a sense of the possible we lost it fast.” In this hard time—these two men restore my faith in a sense of the possible.