Iron Mike in War and Peace

    Growing up men like Iron Mike were my not just folk heroes, but were real people to admire in my life.  From my adopted Grandfather "Easy" Smith (a five combat jump 82nd Airborne trooper), Uncle Walter Betley (WWII Europe, Korean War, Vietnam), Uncle Bernie (WWII), my DjaDja (WWII USN), my wife's Granddad (WWII), My Father in Law (Vietnam), my Dad (Desert Storm), my good gunner (SSG Thornburg Bosnia/Iraq/Afghanistant), and countless others I dare not forget in my prayers...taught me about what strength and courage really were.  I also learned in the peace one needs just as much strength.

    Easy Smith, my Airborne Pathfinder friend, told me of his missions and the leadership needed to accomplish them.  He instructed me on the personal trials of fire I would face in combat, and what qualities to try and cultivate in myself to prepare for the supreme tests of leadership in combat.  I was never a great army officer, decent/honorable but not GREAT.  I never faced the test so many of my relatives and friends did. I often wonder if I would pass that test of combat...but in reality my life is still young.  The ultimate test could come at any time in this wild wild west world we live in today.

    Easy told me of his Army career, and then work on the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.  He rehearsed all day, stayed up all night and got very little sleep.  The work was exhausting.  Like many musicians he turned to alcohol and became dependent on it.  He got to the point where one day he had to have a talk with God.  He knew he lived or he died based on his reaction to the temptation from the devil he would deliver in bottle.  He lived if he left the bottle behind.  He died if he picked it up again to drink.

   Easy left the bottle forever that day.  He became an active man of God.  As a God fearing gentleman he mentored hundreds of youth in his third career as a Sheriff's Deputy in Northern Virginia through baseball, music and church ministries.  If you ever visit the E.G. Smith Complex in Manassas, Virginia you will walk on the grass of my adopted Grandfather and personal embodiment of Iron Mike.

    The men I mentioned above all fought through war, but thrived without conflict by living out God's commands in peace.  In the list above I know of church councilmen, Knights of Columbus, a man baptized in his Episcopalian faith as an adult, and a non-denominational Christian who raised families with love and taught honor to them.  I am proud to know them, learn from their example, and try to carry it on one more generation.

   While it would be nice to have world peace, I am not foolish enough to think it will come without a miracle of the second coming of Christ first.  Until then I will pray men will continue to be Iron Mike's in both war and peace.  Just as strong to face a bullet as the challenges of peace.

-ehw

Live Love Not Vanity

    Two days ago I attended the funeral for a friend's husband.  He passed unexpectedly after a bout with cancer.  I heard testimonials from several friends of the deceased.  They told the story of a man who lived a life of love for his fellow man.  From what his wife told me in the months we've worked together, these were no exaggerations.  These tales exactly described his character.  

    This gentleman was a leader.  He bore other's burdens with joy.  He called out other men to be leaders in their homes for their wives and children.  He was the rock on whom his wife and boys could lean at any time of the day or night for support.  From what I heard, and knew from his wife, he was also not a man who allowed blind love of another person to cover up their faults in his eyes.  This man called all people to raise themselves up to meet the challenges of life.  He carried the same attitude when he looked in the mirror as well.  He had confidence in himself, but never a vanity for himself.  So when he did not know answers to life's hard questions, he reached out to a trusted circle of friends and the Lord for guidance.

    Good men seek challenges, camaraderie, glory in the Lord, and lay down their life in service.  Somehow the best of the good men do all these things with a smile.  Obviously this gentlemen was all of these things.

    So as we stood at the Canton American Military Cemetery, I looked out at the headstones and thought of what this fallen soldier could teach others in one sentence.  It really came down to what all good military men have in common.  He lived love not vanity.

   Please pray for this family.  My friend and her two good sons lost a good husband and father.  Now they will need the strength to carry on their own lives, with the direction left by a good man in the example of a life well lived inscribed on their hearts.

-ehw

PS  Just a note about the photo above.  In American Military Cemeteries on US Soil we are not legally allowed to photograph the names on the tombstones (per the custodians at the Los Angeles National Cemetery).  So in the four minutes I had to take a few photos before a huge thunderstorm...I got a few quality photos...under that specific guidance.  Took some adjustments to make sure I stayed in the law, but I think it worked out.

Raise a Veteran

    The theme for the day is to honor veterans for their service, both those who died and those who continue to serve.  In its original form, Armistice Day recognized the War to End All Wars.  Americans and Europeans moved into isolationism, turned inward and also sowed the seeds for the next war.  Free nations cast down their arms, and allowed others to prepare the engines of war to enslave them until it was almost too late.  Today we see the same problem around the world.  Engines of tyranny now spin up and prepare to pounce when weakness reaches its most critical point.

    As a historian, and man of Christian faith, I cannot in good conscience follow that example today.  I know there are good people in this world.  I also know there are those who give into evil.  Those people seek to either turn me to sin as an accomplice or make me their slave.  The enemies of freedom will never rest.  The enemies of building the Kingdom of God will never cease adapting to our transient strengths in their attempts to tear it down.

   In a nation of almost 350 million we have only about 1.5 million under arms today.  The nation's recruiters cannot get enough young men to join the service due to lack on interest, poor fitness, and (frankly) intellectual incapacity.  Many men get rejected due to gang affiliation and drug use.  So the administration is actually trying to bring foreigners (legal and illegal) into the ranks to defend this country.  As a reminder of history....when every great nation began to commission others to defend their statehood they fell.  Just look at the history of Rome.  Republic to tyranny.  Native sons to mercenaries.  

    So today please consider something a little different for Veteran's Day.  Don't just thank a veteran, raise a veteran.

   As a parent myself I can now feel the fear and angst felt when the child raises their hands to say, "This I will defend."  Despite the angst I know my life is but a transient one.  My days of quality service as a front line fighter now extend far into my past.  If my children want to be free, and give that gift to their children, they must one day put veteran somewhere on their resume.

    It is time we all realize it is not enough to just thank someone else for the gift of freedom.  It is time for each man to serve where able.  Service in the active duty military, guard, and police, fire and rescue all keep us safe.  It does not have to be a career...just a portion of life holding the line against the terrors of the night makes you a worthy veteran in my eyes. 

    So today do more than thank a veteran.  Raise a veteran.  Your grandchildren will thank you one day for giving them the gift of liberty.

-ehw.