Memorial Day
Fort Jackson National Cemetery
I recently visited the Fort Jackson National Cemetery for the 2023 Memorial Day service, and the experience has reverberated with me to this day. In full disclosure, I haven’t been to a Memorial Day service in my adult years, and it was a thought I woke up with that morning and felt led to follow up on. In a culture that places a shamefully high value on the pursuit of pleasure, Memorial Day sure seems to have fallen victim like many of our holidays as we continually exchange the deeper meaning for a shallow experience. Boats, bathing suits, and beaches have become the norm of the weekend as it has transitioned from a respected holiday with the sobering reminder of the cost of our freedoms, to a mere kick-off to summer. And just to be clear, I speak from a guilty conscious because my Memorial Day experiences in recent years have also been the path of pleasure; however, this Memorial Day I felt the need to take a step back and explore and experience the deeper meaning.
I mistakenly arrived over an hour early, but it was a great blessing because all was quiet and I had the opportunity take it all in before the crowds showed up. As I walked around the grounds, I was particularly impacted just being there, and began praying silently and asking God what I’m supposed to do with this experience. It was initially notable just seeing the sheer number of headstones, all perfectly ordered and perfectly maintained, but as I looked closer I noted how each person was personally dignified and respected in their final resting place with an etched remembrance of their military service and their notable personal attributes. Just to note a few, I read,
“Loving Husband, Father, and Friend”
“Loving Wife, Mother, and Grandmother”
“Devoted Husband, Loving Father and Grandfather, and American Hero”
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Many more were like these, and in addition I read of the 23rd Infantry Division who was the first army unit to go on offensive against the enemy in WWII, always activated outside the United States, and always served in a jungle environment. Anything but a pleasurable life, to say the least.
As I contemplated and prayed, it struck me as I considered the words written on most headstones all over this world. We’re all remembered for the honorable ways we lived our lives, and for the service, commitment, discipline, and love we showed and shared. Headstones generally don’t tell of the fun we had and the pleasures we experienced, yet, that pursuit seems to consume most of our lives. To be clear, pleasure is a gift of God that He’s given for us to enjoy, but the pursuit of pleasure is not the purpose of life, and a legacy of pleasure is no legacy at all. It’s subjective to the individual experiencing it, and a life of pleasure is out of reach for most people in this world. The pleasures of one individual aren’t necessarily relatable or attainable to all, but a legacy of one’s service, honor, dignity, and respect can be shared by all in any circumstance, in any place, and at any time. We don’t each have the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of a wealthy, comfortable, safe, and healthy life, but we do each have the unique opportunity to live honorable lives. If everyone lived for themselves in the pursuit of pleasure, where would that leave us? If everyone lived for the glory of God and the love of their neighbor, where would that leave us? It seems to me that the logical conclusion of one is chaos, and the other is order.
The Bible tells us that our lives are to be lived for the glory of God in the light of eternity and the glory that awaits. We are to love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves, yet the culture is preaching ‘love yourself first’. That just doesn’t work. The only way to truly love is to first know and receive the love of God. From that foundation, all other relationships are built, both with yourself and with others, and that’s the greatest ‘self-love’ anyone can ever experience.
Brigadier General Jason E Kelly, Commanding General for the United States Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, gave the remarks on this Memorial Day ceremony, and he told the story of Medal of Honor recipient Captain Emil Kapaun, an Army Chaplain who died in a prisoner of war camp at the age of 35 in 1951. As the story was told, Captain Kapaun was a farm boy from Kansas whose first calling was to God, and God called him to military service. His military service was exemplary in every way, but there was one particular act that earned him the Medal of Honor. As the enemy forces took over, Captain Kapaun exhibited exceptional self-sacrificial bravery in saving a fellow soldier as impending death loomed, and the enemy was seemingly left stunned as they watched the scene unfold. In the words of Brig General Kelly, “Kapaun did not shoulder a rifle or wield a bayonet, he carried only a Bible and strong religious convictions. These were the weapons he used, and that day they were more effective than the bullets. There was something about this peaceful, unarmed man demonstrating extraordinary courage in war”. As Brig General Kelly would go on to say, “we have an obligation to remember Kapaun”. I would agree; his story needs to be remembered and reflected on. To hear his story told in greater detail, copy and paste the following link: https://youtu.be/60T7dIrVnlY
For me personally, simply hearing one man of exemplary honor, character, discipline, service, and dignity, remembering another man of exemplary honor, character, discipline, service, and dignity, is an experience I’ll never forget. Both men are leaving a timeless, life-giving legacy for the rest of us to glean from. Both men have chosen a life of honor to the glory of God that we all can choose to participate in wherever we find ourselves. Captain Kapaun’s legacy, particularly, is the legacy of a life surrendered to the call of Matthew 22, in which we read of Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees’ question of ‘which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
On this Memorial Day, as the life of Captain Kapaun was honored, I think about the verse in Luke 14, where Jesus says, “But whenever you are invited, go and take the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are dining at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:10-11). Captain Kapaun lived a life of humility for the glory of God, and today he was ‘moved up higher’ by the words of Brig General Kelly.
I am immeasurably thankful for the sacrifice of so many for the freedoms we enjoy in this great country, and such remembrance and refection only helps to illumine and exalt the One who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our life-giving freedom we experience only in Him. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Indeed, what a friend we have in Jesus.
