**Originally published June 4th, 2011 ~ wishing you personal reflections this weekend as well.  Peace, and thanks…to all those who gave their lives so I could write this.  RDK

***

On Memorial Day I reflected. When I was young, I cut my teeth on WWII movies where war was glorified.  John Wayne in The Green Berets made me zealous for militarism.

On Memorial Day I reflected. I remembered the day I learned that war was not the glorified world of the movies.  The very first funeral I ever attended was for a son of Apache.  PFC James McClure was killed on May 2, 1967, the day before my 11th birthday. He was 19.

On Memorial Day I reflected. I recalled the message I had delivered to an over-flow crowd of mourners in the early spring of 2008.  The governor of Oklahoma sat on the front row, along with a very young widow and her toddler son, Gage.  As I stood before the men and women gathered at that funeral, I found myself confronted with the very real issues of honor, duty, courage, and sacrifice that Memorial Day represents.

Continue reading Simple Sabbath: Memorial Day – The Good Solidier →