We have quite the snow storm going on outside on the fine November morning. I am enjoying a cup of Door County Pumpkin Spice Coffee while sitting at my desk. Both of our dogs are busy chewing on a rawhide strip this morning. It's time to write.
John 15:13 Great love has no one than this, but to lay down one's life for his friends.
Our Dad was a proud veteran who served in the Korean War as a United States Marine. He always made sure to explain to us the history of the different wars the United States had been involved in and the importance of each one. In the last few years of his life he was invited to come to the local school in his small home town and deliver a speech/lesson from a veterans point of view on a fact about service to our country, a specific battle or war. Each year around the middle of October he would start piecing it together/ On November 11th he would arrive at the school assembly and deliver his message. He felt that knowing our history and meeting someone who fought for it was important for the kids to learn.
He would always say that "its important that we know our history and remember those who fought that we might have a history. It would have been easy for this little beginning nation to just fold up in it's beginning days. But yet they fought for their freedom and ours. It's important to help others when their freedom is threatened by evil, especially if they are unable to help themselves."
He would tell us about a family he encountered in Korea. Dad was fresh out of high school and in the middle of a war. The father of this family had been killed and a young mother with three kids had nowhere to go. The family hung around the Marine base camp in what Dad said was a "hot zone". The family was found one day scraping and eating the remaining lard from cans thrown outside from the cook tent. Dad kind of adopted this family and would give them some money for doing some laundry for him. A few Marines also did the same.
One day when I was a young boy and cleaning up after dinner I started to pour some bacon grease from a pan into a can that was to be saved and the grease used later for something else. Some of you young folks can't fathom this one. My dad made me look into the can and he asked me if I thought that a can of grease would be a good meal. My answer was a solid no and I will never forget what Dad said. "That's why I fought so that you and others wouldn't have to eat left over grease because someone wanted to take our country or theirs."
So today we honor our veterans and I just want to thank each and everyone of them for their sacrifice of service. I salute you with love and respect. I will have a tear in my eye as I eat my breakfast of cereal and dried fruit. Someone fought for me not to eat lard from a can.
God bless,
Marty
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