Sermon / The Rev. Mark Moline
Memorial Day 2009
St. Luke’s / Prescott
On this Memorial Day I’m going to use another preacher’s sermon; almost verbatim although I have paraphrased some in the interest of time. Still it is the same sermon and this is Memorial Day week-end and the sermon seems to fit.
This sermon was written by the Rev. Leonard E. Welshons, Pastor of the Open Bible Church in Ottumwa and was presented only once, 65 years ago. It was preached at the memorial service of Judy’s older brother Paul.
I know you didn’t know Paul, neither did I and neither did Judy beyond that cold granite stone that bore his name there at the cemetery in Ottumwa; the one her parents frequently took her to visit on Sunday afternoons when she was a little girl.
You don’t know Paul, but on this Memorial Day Week-end you do know of and remember other Paul’s, or perhaps it was a James, or a Mike or a Donald, other brothers, other uncles or even dads or a spouse; and maybe even a Susan or a Mary for there were 460 American Military women killed in WW2 alone. It is my hope that, as I preach Pastor Welshons’ sermon you will remember all of those who paid the ultimate price in defense of our nation, our way of life, our freedom.
Judy’s big brother Paul was a US Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Division on November 20th, 1943. The unit’s assignment was to invade Betio in the Tarawa Islets of the Gilbert Islands. As I mentioned last Memorial Day, it is not the purpose of this week-end to glorify the violence of war. As a side note, Tarawa was defended by 4,700 hundred Japanese soldiers. All but 17 were killed. In researching this on the internet, I found US Navy photographs of the 17 Japanese survivors – prisoners of war. They were not monsters; they appeared to be scared kids in their late teens.
Paul had graduated from Ottumwa High School ahead of his class and was just 17 years of age when the landing craft he was in came to an abrupt and unexpected halt some 3 to 400 yards from the Tarawa beach. Someone had miscalculated the tides, the landing craft couldn’t clear the sub-surface reefs and so Paul and his fellow marines had to climb over the sides of the craft and wade through the waste to chest deep water under heavy machine gun fire. Most of the Marines who died that first day never made it to the beach. Those who did didn’t make it off the beach that first day. We don’t know if Paul made it out of the water or not. We do know that by the time the south pacific sun set on Tarawa that day in November, Paul had gone home to Glory. He was a baptized Christian believer. Paul’s body didn’t come home to Ottumwa until years later – after the war.
But in the spring of 44, Pastor Welshons used the 14th Chapter of Romans for his text during Paul’s memorial service and focused his attention upon the 7th verse. “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.” He Preached:
In this memorial we come face to face with the two great issues of humanity, Life and Death. These two factors are held in the hand of God, yet we see in our text that we do not live or die to ourselves. Our lives lived righteously will surely benefit others. We can be an inspiration to others. It has been said that every successful person has a personal hero who gives us a high mark to aim for. Unquestionably as he played football, Paul became a hero to many a youngster, and doubtlessly some today are growing up to fill that place left on the squad, that place left by Paul. After all, to be named Iowa All-state guard in high school football, what with hundreds competing, is no small honor.
As with Paul, our lives ought to be lived for others – it is our way of life. The freedoms and privileges we now enjoy as Americans have been given to us by those lives lived and those lives surrendered. It is as Paul the Apostle says, “For me to die is gain.” We do not usually associate the concept of gain with dying, for sorrow and loss are deaths uniform bequests. We often think of the “Valley of the Shadow” which leads to the grave, but my friend, when we have a spiritual view of death, we find hope. For a Christian death is not the end, but the beginning for as Jesus said, “He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” In other words, death is the graduation of the soul from the school of time, into the world of eternity. We graduate with honors, that are the hope and promise of God, and yet we leave a student’s life so lived that it can teach others.
This great conflict has already taken over 38,000 of our best young men, and God alone knows how many other Mother’s sons will be called upon to make that great sacrifice. And why are they making this sacrifice, why are they paying so great a price? Solely for their loved ones that they might continue to enjoy the freedom so purchased by other American boys in the past. As one young Marine who just returned from fighting in the South Pacific told me, “My Christian faith has taught me to always answer ‘yes’ to the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
My friends Christians are responsible for others. When we live in a world that can now be circled in just sixty hours by an airplane, our definition of just who is our fellowman has grown to include many.
Christ’s Good Samaritan story of a cup of cold water in His name has been lived out as we have sent food and sustenance to the world. I am not a pacifist. I believe in ‘just war’. I believe we can prove to the seekers of greed and power that the Christian faith can be relied upon to fulfill the dreams of mankind for freedom, equality and justice. Such are the teachings of Christ and such are the ideals of our young men who are laying down their lives. Like Nehemiah of Old, we want to shout, “let us rise up and build” – build a world with no masters or slaves, with no superior master race theories, with no black poverty nor any deadly ignorance to stop our Freedom march.”
All this is no easy task, but neither is winning this war – we are doing it, but at a great cost. We, as a people are not strangers to that which is difficult. Win this war we shall. We will pay the price in the sacrifice made by our boys, by the mothers and dads, wives and sweethearts – For it is just that kind of unity that wins.
Yes, we will gain victory, not defeat – not loss, just as surely as we will gain a spiritual victory in death with Christ and our loved ones where war is no more.
That concludes Pastor Welshons’ sermon of 1944. Sixty-five years later, Paul’s sacrifice still stands! To those who would now selectively choose to ignore that sacrifice, To those who would diminish or even dismiss it as just so much maudlin misdirected patriotism, To those who scorn my country I would say. Go ahead, disparage it all you want, you are free to do so – you have freedom of speech here, that’s one of the freedoms Paul died for. Burn its flag, there are other nations in this world that would put you in prison for years for such an act, but here you are free. Malign this great nation all you want. Just don’t tamper with her freedoms. Too many Paul’s have paid too great a price for me to let you do that – and I don’t believe I am alone in my thinking. Let us never forget the cost of freedom or those who paid that price in blood, sweat and tears.
I never knew Paul, but I’m sure not going to forget him now; that scared 17 year old kid climbing over the side of that landing craft so that I could live my life as a free person in a free land. God bless all the Paul’s, God Bless this Land of the Free! God Bless America!
