A moment of silence, a moment forever.
Some of these brave heroes have long passed away, many of them having died in combat in the name of their country and God. Many of the men and women in the service continue to serve today, where they have left their wives, children, family and friends to defend the world from terrorism.
This past Memorial Day was no different, with Holmes County’s tiny bergs offering a number of Memorial Day offerings which praised and honored these faithful men and women with a moment of silence.
As that event took place in Winesburg this May 30, I could not help but think what a moment in time might look like to a service member in a foreign nation.
While we calmly and politely offer up a moment of silence, bowing our heads for a brief moment as we think of these men and women, a fraction of time for those serving may look very different.
A militia member in the American Revolution stands toe to toe with a member of the Briton Army, their rifles clanking together as they parry with their bayonets, the sharp blade whistling past his ear, pain searing through his body as the opponent’s bayonet pierces his shoulder. Fear drives him to fight for his life, as each movement, each swing of the musket and every tactical movement means the difference between life and death.
A moment in time might have looked like thousands of rounds of German ammunition sizzling overhead as the U.S. GI crawls along Omaha Beach, as he moves along, blindly at times, as sand whips his face, a sea of crimson red-stained water lays behind him, in front of him a group of men intent on making each breath his last. Around him, he sees his brothers in arms, scattered around the beach, many of whom are lying in agony, limbs missing, terror in their eyes, or with the blank stare of death emitting from their now-silent eyes.
A moment in time might have been the Vietnam War private sneaking through the jungle, never knowing what might lie around the next tree, under the covering brush on the ground or across a small clearing or a river bed.
One moment the GI is trying to plan his next move, the next, he is flying through the air, having tripped a booby trap, his leg blown to pieces by the shrapnel of the exploding bomb.
That moment could entail the American GI serving oversees in Iraq. That very moment when a seemingly innocent child comes up to her in a time of peace, unexpectedly unleashing a suicide bomb, the GI’s life flashing before her eyes as she passes from this world.
A moment of time could be spending Christmas day in a fox hole with mortar exploding overhead. It could mean spending an anniversary picking leeches off your body, having not showered for days, a world away from loved ones. Or perhaps it might be a surgeon’s scalpel carving out a bullet from within your chest, his skilled hands playing the key role in life or death.
A moment, one moment... moments that were never counted on. Moments that would never be wished upon your fiercest enemy. Moments that, would they have occurred one or two seconds earlier or later would have meant a completely different outcome.
Army veteran Joel Menuez spoke about God being omnipresent, and he said that there were times in Vietnam in which he seriously doubted that, despite his faith. In the end, he felt that God was there, that he was being watched over, and that there was a certain peace that came from knowing that his faith in God was with him.
It’s odd, that in a world where we control our own destiny, we often times don’t control anything.
That is how all men and women in service must feel at times.
As we stand in congregation at our annual Memorial Day services, we offer up our moment of silence, honoring these brave men and women, knowing full well that we will soon be on our way to whatever barbecue we have going, celebrating with family and friends.
Our moment costs us nothing other than a few seconds of our lives.
Sometimes, for our service men and women who are faithfully giving their all for their country, a moment is all that separates what they have and who they are. A moment can change everything. A moment can mean life or death. A moment can mean a wheelchair. A moment can mean no sight. A moment can mean a widow.
A moment...
While we take moments in life for granted on a regular basis, for those serving, every moment can be a lifetime.
When it comes to serving in the heat of battle, every moment, any moment, could be the last moment of life, or could at the very least alter the way of life they know severely.
What these men and women have done in the past and still are doing today in the name of freedom will always stand as one of the great sacrifices one can make for their country and fellow man. That is something that we should never take for granted.