Memorial weekend is very meaningful to me. My father was a navy sailor and at age 17 he was newly enlisted and assigned to Pearl Harbor. The dawn of December 7, 1941, was
"A day that will remain in infamy," the morning the Japanese attacked and America was at war.
My fathers retelling of the story varies from sibling to sibling, but he had the scars to prove he was there. Scrap-metal from an explosion entered his stomach and everything but the size of an walnut had to be removed. My father had 7 surgeries as a result of war and cigarettes, but I think it was the latter that finally took his life at 63.
I still remember as a small child having to low-crawl to my father's bedside to wake him from a nap for dinner because he would awaken swinging for the fences. PTSD was not even a concept back then, but I learned quick to duck and cover when my father was in one of his "moods." He's been gone some 33+ years now and the effects of his trauma on my life are still with me today. As a police officer, having been shot at on more than one occasion, working in LA during the Rodney King Riots, and seeing some pretty horrific things (too gory for a blog), I also have suffered from my own PTSD and traumatic experiences.
One thing gives me peace, and that is my faith. I can not imagine today what my life would look like if it were not for my love of God and my faith in Jesus Christ as my savior. I don't even want to think of having to "low crawl" through life today, what with all the school shootings, homeland terrorist attacks, and out-of-control society "norms" I think I would want to stick my head in the sand and never come out. But, in spite of all the crazy things life throws at us, when we have God and Jesus on our side, we can live on.
"The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults,
And with my song I shall thank Him." Psalms 28:7
A Prayer goes out to our military, past, present, and future, for their safe keeping, protection, and encouragement. May we honor them as they protect us, our lives, and our loved ones.
God Bless our Military!