Paying tribute to our veterans

Janet Tronstad here and I am honored to be able to post on Memorial Day. I'm going to make it a day for us to give tributes to those we know and love who fought in wars to serve our country. I'll start with my own tribute -- to my father. He's 85 tears old now, but when he was 18 he signed up to go to Europe and fight in World War II. When I was growing up, I don't remember him ever talking about the war. But as he's gotten older, the memories are with him and he will talk about flashes of what happened.

How one day, in the battle of Mentz in France, he has his troop were walking/marching by a wine shop. Windows were blown out of all the shops and the town was deserted as fighting had been going on for days. But there was one undamaged bottle of wine standing in the now windowless display. He remembers marveling that none of his fellow soldiers reached over and took the bottle. Later that night, he recalls the fighting and in the morning discovering that the German soldiers they had killed were little older than 12 or 13. It was close to the end of the war and the Germans had lowered the age of soldiers (and, as I mentioned, my father was only 18 himself).

Another recollection was the feeling of clean sheets in the field hospital where he'd been sent after being wounded. They made him feel like he was in heaven. And, he'd recall the terror and horrible pain of being hit by a round of machine gun fire in his elbow and foot. A soldier close to him had been hit and, when falling, his weapon had continued firing and hit my father. As painful as it was though it saved my fathers life as his fellow soldiers were almost all killed in a big battle the day after he was sent to the hospital.

I'm glad we have a day to remember the stories and graves of soldiers. If you'd care to share a tribute to someone, please post here. Or share a few words of thanks if you'd like for the sacrifice our soldiers made. I particularly look at the World War II vets like my father and wonder what the world would have been like without them.

To all my heroes

I just wanted to say to all the soldiers serving the world over and to those who've served in the past, we have not forgotten you. Our hearts and our prayers are with you. If you're sitting there in the desert, hot and tired and lonely, know that we are with you. If you're missing your family, know that we're hugging our close because you have fought for our freedom. You are all in my prayers and I will never forget your sacrifices. That is a promise. And everyday, I will lift you up in my prayers--stay safe and remember you are very special.

Lenora Worth :)

Remembrance Day

Tomorrow is November 11th.
On this day in 1918, an armistice was signed. It was very early in the morning, around 5:30, but the Germans ordered the fighting to stop at 11 am, thus ending the war. The six plus hours were needed in order to get the information out to all troops.
The Great War was over.
It's hard to imagine a world so at war, and technology so backward that they needed hours to pass on information. But it's not hard to imagine the toll war takes on people. We are still involved in war. Canada, the United States, other allies. We have gone to war for various reasons, but regardless, the result is that we all here have the freedoms and rights that many are still denied today.
If you went to church yesterday, or even if you didn't, that is a direct result of war. We have the right to choose to worship.
We have the right to read what we want, to shop where we want, to vacation where we want. We have the right to homeschool our children and elect whoever we feel will lead us in office.
We got those rights from the men and women who have fought in wars for our sakes.
And who are still fighting. We are still losing men and women today, and these soldiers, sailors, airmen, even diplomats, journalists and missionary field staff are doing what they know is right for our freedom.
Let's honour them on November 11th. If you can't make it to a service, at 11 o'clock, take the time to thank your servicemen for their sacrifice.