Latest / Reflections On The Word With Richard Kay / The Real Meaning Of Memorial Day | Episode #357 | Encore Episode #028

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The Real Meaning Of Memorial Day | Episode #357 | Encore Episode #028 · Reflections On The Word With Richard Kay

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to today's edition of Reflection on the Word with
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  Speaker 1: Richard K. I'm Chuck Christie, and today we are asking
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  Speaker 1: you to spend a few moments of your time with
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  Speaker 1: us each day as Richard shares from God's work with notes, quotes,
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  Speaker 1: and stores, along with some of his own personal experiences,
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  Speaker 1: to confirm for you God's great love for us, that
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  Speaker 1: his compassion for us never fails, and that he has
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  Speaker 1: a great faithfulness toward us in every regard. In Lamentations
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  Speaker 1: chapter three, verses twenty two and twenty three, we read,
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  Speaker 1: because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed,
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  Speaker 1: for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.
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  Speaker 1: Great is your faithfulness. Now, if you miss a portion
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  Speaker 1: of today's broadcast or would like to recommend it to
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  Speaker 1: a friend, you can hear this program anytime online at
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  Speaker 1: Talknetwork Radio dot com. Well, now here's Richard with today's reflection.
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  Speaker 2: As it is written. How beautiful are the feet of
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  Speaker 2: them who bring good news? That is from Romans Chapter
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  Speaker 2: ten and verse fifteen. Today is Memorial Day. We are
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  Speaker 2: probably going to have of varying type of celebration in
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  Speaker 2: gathering of family and friends. I'd like to take just
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  Speaker 2: a moment and reflect on the real meaning of Memorial Day. Now.
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  Speaker 2: This was written by Chase Wickersham recently. He describes what
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  Speaker 2: he sees as Memorial Day and what it really means.
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  Speaker 2: As we read, Memorial Day has become a company holiday,
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  Speaker 2: an excuse for a three day weekend, an opportunity for
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  Speaker 2: retail sales promotions, and the beginning of the summer season.
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  Speaker 2: We have forgotten what it is all about. Unfortunately, with
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  Speaker 2: less than one percent of the population in the military,
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  Speaker 2: and the total number of veterans shrinking every day as
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  Speaker 2: we lose our great generation of World War II veterans,
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  Speaker 2: the general population doesn't have a personal connection to Memorial Day.
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  Speaker 2: What was it? Memorial Day was started after the Civil War,
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  Speaker 2: when because of the horrific number of casualties, most of
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  Speaker 2: the country had experienced a loss of a family member
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  Speaker 2: or a friend during the fighting. In nineteen seventy one,
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  Speaker 2: Memorial Day was officially declared a national holiday. During the
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  Speaker 2: Vietnam War, we honor on this day the men and
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  Speaker 2: women who have died while serving in the US military.
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  Speaker 2: For those of us who have served in combat, Memorial
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  Speaker 2: Day has special meaning. Combat changes a person and you
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  Speaker 2: never forget the men around you who did not make
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  Speaker 2: it home. Sometimes when memory gets foggy, you may forget
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  Speaker 2: what someone looked like, or maybe a complete name, but
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  Speaker 2: the ones closest to you are always there. Memorial Day
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  Speaker 2: forces us to remember them and their sacrifice. I remember
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  Speaker 2: one person, Ronald Natali. He was a twenty one year
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  Speaker 2: old supply clerk who was stationed with me at Battery
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  Speaker 2: headquarters in Plai Coup, Vietnam. I was the executive officer
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  Speaker 2: in the battery, and he was a specter for and
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  Speaker 2: one of the enlisted in the headquarters platoon. I don't
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  Speaker 2: remember if he was drafted or volunteered. He was a
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  Speaker 2: pleasant man from the Midwest Monroe, Michigan, I believe, and
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  Speaker 2: he had many friends. I never had a close relationship
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  Speaker 2: with Natali, but saw him often during daily operations. What
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  Speaker 2: I remember vividly is his last day before the ambush,
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  Speaker 2: the tally came to me and asked for permission to
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  Speaker 2: go to a distant fire base by jeep to say
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  Speaker 2: good bye to some of his friends. I thought it
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  Speaker 2: was a bad idea would less than two weeks to
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  Speaker 2: go before he shift home, but I could not dissuade him.
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  Speaker 2: From going, so I insisted that he'd take our most
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  Speaker 2: experienced combat soldier, our motor pool sergeant, who was on
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  Speaker 2: his third tour in Vietnam and was maybe only twenty
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  Speaker 2: two years old. I remember telling them to stay alert,
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  Speaker 2: stay sober, and don't get on the highway lake. If
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  Speaker 2: you leave late, you might miss the road clearing detail
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  Speaker 2: that sweeps the highway for stragglers or broken equipment before dark.
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  Speaker 2: After that sweep Charlie or the Viet Kan owns the road. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: they left late and traveling fast, hoped to catch up
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  Speaker 2: with the sweeper gunships. At about five PM, I received
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  Speaker 2: a call that my jeep was involved in an ambush
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  Speaker 2: about twenty miles south of Plaikou and an inventory unit
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  Speaker 2: from the fourth Division was heading out in choppers to
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  Speaker 2: find a missing gi who was blown out of a
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  Speaker 2: jeep during the ambush. I asked if we could recognize
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  Speaker 2: and organize a rescue effort by road, and was told
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  Speaker 2: to wait at the Plaikou hospital for details. I organized
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  Speaker 2: two vehicles to transport us out of Artillery Hill, where
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  Speaker 2: the battery was located, across the town to the hospital
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  Speaker 2: on the other side. We arrived and waited in the
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  Speaker 2: back of the emergency room near the path where the
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  Speaker 2: choppers land. While we waited, a metavac arrived with a
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  Speaker 2: Special Forces team wounded in action across the border. It
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  Speaker 2: was chaos as the medical team tried to save those
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  Speaker 2: that they could and triage the rest. After watching for
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  Speaker 2: some time as the doctors performed surgery there in the
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  Speaker 2: emergency room to save several severely winded I wandered off
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  Speaker 2: into the building and directly behind the receiving room was
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  Speaker 2: an alcove with bodies stacked on gurneys for processing. It
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  Speaker 2: must have been a busy day. Only the feet were
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  Speaker 2: visible and each had a dog tag wired to a toe.
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  Speaker 2: A few hours later, after dark, a chopper came in
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  Speaker 2: with my sergeant and the body of Natalite. They had
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  Speaker 2: found him on the side of the highway where he fell.
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  Speaker 2: I was asked to identify the body and was taken
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  Speaker 2: to a shed near the chopper pad, where bodies were
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  Speaker 2: stored until they could be processed. My medic and I
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  Speaker 2: pulled Natali's body out for identification, but it was impossible
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  Speaker 2: to recognize him since he took a direct hit from
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  Speaker 2: a rocket propelled grenade or RPG. My medic told me
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  Speaker 2: to find his dog tags and search his uniform and
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  Speaker 2: pockets for identification, and together we completed the task and
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  Speaker 2: agreed that this was Natalie. We collected our exhausted sergeant
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  Speaker 2: and headed back to the battery across town. We were
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  Speaker 2: on edge because it was dark and the trip was
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  Speaker 2: outside the wire, and we were a small detachment with
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  Speaker 2: little firepower to defend ourselves except for our sixteens. We
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  Speaker 2: arrived safely, and everyone in our unit wanted information. My
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  Speaker 2: sergeant was emotionally drained and devastated by what had happened.
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  Speaker 2: He held himself responsible and broke down in tears, pleading
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  Speaker 2: with me to send him home. This was his third
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  Speaker 2: tour and he had seen enough. He was damaged, and
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  Speaker 2: all I could do was assure him that he made
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  Speaker 2: the right decisions and he could not have saved mentality.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, a colonel called me that night and praised
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  Speaker 2: the actions of our sergeant. I was told that he
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  Speaker 2: was some soldier and we should be proud of him.
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  Speaker 2: He had performed superbly. But all I could do was
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  Speaker 2: tell him that I would try to get him home early. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: there was nothing I could do, and he was still
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  Speaker 2: in the country serving out his tour when I left
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  Speaker 2: a few months later. Memorial Day to me is all
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  Speaker 2: about Natali and the sacrifice he made in nineteen seventy.
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  Speaker 2: I had many men wounded during my tour, and I
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  Speaker 2: am sure that several did not survive. It is Natali
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  Speaker 2: whom I remember. I have always felt responsible for his
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  Speaker 2: death because I let him go, despite my gut feeling
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  Speaker 2: that it was a mistake. I did learn from that
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  Speaker 2: mistake and demanded for the rest of my tour that
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  Speaker 2: anyone short sit tight, stay bored, and go home in
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  Speaker 2: one piece. I was lucky and survived Vietnam, but he
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  Speaker 2: did not. My life has been full with a wife
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  Speaker 2: who loves me, children i'm proud of, and grandchildren I
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  Speaker 2: can enjoy. At the end of my life. Natally lost
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  Speaker 2: his life and missed that opportunity. I will always remember
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  Speaker 2: him every year on Memorial Day. Chase Wickersham, US Army
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  Speaker 2: veteran Vietnam and Director Goodwill of Orange County's Tyranney Center
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  Speaker 2: for Veterans' Services.
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  Speaker 1: Richard will be right back in a moment to wrap up.
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  Speaker 1: But if you've just joined us, you've been listening to
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  Speaker 1: reflections on the Word with Richard K. You can hear
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  Speaker 1: this message in its entirety again online as well as
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  Speaker 1: Richard's entire archive at Talknetwork Radio dot com. We would
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  Speaker 1: like to acknowledge our theme song, how Great Is Thy
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  Speaker 1: faith Bus from the America's twenty five Favorite Hymns album
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  Speaker 1: unless otherwise. Express scriptures are read from the Holman Christian
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  Speaker 1: Standard Bible, which is published by Holman Bible Publishers, Ashville, Tennessee.
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  Speaker 1: Additional resources used for reflections on the Word with Richard
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  Speaker 1: K include Great Is Thy Faithfulness by our Daily Breadth
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  Speaker 1: and printed by Discovery House Publishers. Again, here is Richard
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  Speaker 1: to wrap up today's message.
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  Speaker 2: Well, folks, this has been a sobering time to be
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  Speaker 2: able to remember those who paid the ultimate price for
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  Speaker 2: your right to live in freedom. I serve many of
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  Speaker 2: you serve, and I'm sure that you can recall how
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  Speaker 2: many paid that price. And so today we solemnly remember
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  Speaker 2: all of those in our service that paid the price
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  Speaker 2: so that as we came home, we could live in
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  Speaker 2: a country that was free. And that is today's reflection
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  Speaker 2: on the Word.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Richard. Join us again tomorrow when we continue
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  Speaker 1: with the next edition of Reflections on the Word with
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  Speaker 1: Richard k or Richard the entire team. This is Chuck
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  Speaker 1: Christie saying thanks for listening to this edition and reflections
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  Speaker 1: on the Word