"Some will never return."

On the evening of June 6, 1944, D-Day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sat at the radio microphone in the White House to give a message to the American people and the world at large. The President wrote this message, a prayer entitled "Let Our Hearts Be Stout," at the time the invasion of Normandy by Allied troops was already underway. Many of the 10,000 men and boys who would be killed in the first days and weeks of the campaign from the shores of the French coast to the heart of Germany had already died in the dark water, on the beaches, and in the flooded fields of the Cotentin peninsula. Almost four times as many--8500-- had been wounded on this first day.

This is the prayer the president read on that fateful evening:

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty
endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our
civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and
true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in
their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard.
For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with
rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy
grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is
won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken
with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive
them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
And for us at home -- fathers,
mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose
thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate
ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer.
But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people
devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and
again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy
help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to
redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of
our armed forces.
And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail,
to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever
they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our
sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of
our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal
matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable
purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our
enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us
to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity
that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of
unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the
just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty
God.
Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, June 6, 1944

Over this weekend and on Monday, Memorial Day, there will be tens of thousands of ceremonies honoring our war dead. Will you take a couple of hours from your activities to show your gratitude and respect for those who gave their "last full measure of devotion" by attending one of those events. If so, you will also have an opportunity to thank a veteran of WWII. These men and women are dying at the rate of almost 1,000 a day. The chances for you to show them you care about their sacrifices are dwindling rapidly.

And maybe we all should pray this prayer today--and again and again--for those who now are serving our nation in places from which "some will never return" and for their families and friends, and for ourselves. Let us also remember to pray for our enemies.

For more on Roosevelt's prayer, go to

http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/fdr-prayer.htm .

A Baby Boomer's View of the Military

With the Memorial Day weekend fast approaching, I am posting a revised version of a short article I wrote for my dad's Army association newsletter, Flak, in June of 2007. I hope that if you are not already planning to attend a ceremony honoring our military dead that something in the following words may encourage or inspire you to make the effort and attend a Memorial Day weekend ceremony. If you have children or grandchildren, it will be a great opportunity to demonstrate your respect for our military. Perhaps, they will follow suit on future Memorial Days.

A Baby Boomer's View of the Military

When the editor of the Flak asked me if I--as the child of a World War II veteran--would write an article on my view of the military, I eagerly accepted his offer. Not only am I a baby boomer child of a veteran, I am also the wife of a Vietnam vet, and myself a "veteran" of the Sixties and the corrosive culture that period helped sire. Given the opportunity to share my thoughs and feelings about the military, I jumped on it.

Although I have lived in a military town, San Diego, for almost a quarter century, it did not take close proximity to endear the military to me. It has been my love of learning history and personal experience that have given me eyes to see the vital importance of the military to a nation's--or a group of nations'--survival.

Of course, as history has repeatedly shown, strikingly during the last century, the use of military force for imperialistic or malevolent reasons perverts the ethical defensive purpose of the military. However, Americans can be proud that as our nation has matured, we have generally used our military only in defense of our own freedoms or those of our allies and cannot reasonably be called imperialists.

The American military forces have been and continue to be organizations and individuals that we Americans can look to with admiration and pride. They exhibit all the attributes Americans have traditionally sought to emulate and to instill and encourage in their children: honor, integrity, discipline, duty, skill, self-sacrifice, justice, mercy, and more.

So, how do I feel about the military? I feel love, righteous pride, and gratitude for those who have served in the past, for those who serve now, and for those who will continue to step forward and serve. I also feel pain--for their wounds and youthful deaths. I feel suffering for the losses they endure and the horror they witness. I weep with the families and friends whose precious ones are gone or whose wounds are debilitating.

These losses, though, are not empty. They are heroic and life-saving. Again, as in the lives of that "Greatest Generation," we are witnessing what the courageous few are willing to do for the many: to suffer privation and intense discomfort, to risk and even lay down their lives that their fellows may live in freedom. I am reminded of the Biblical words engraved at the memorial at Utah Beach in Normandy where American soldiers stormed the Nazi fortifications in history's greatest invasion:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 KJV)

I give thanks for the men and women of the American military, and I pray for their safe return to their families.