Lest We Forget Our Veterans – Essay by Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.

They serve in the United States Armed Forces for God, Family and Country. They do not ask for special recognition, yet they sacrifice their lives for our freedoms. This Veteran's Day, November 11, let us remember them.

Let us remember American patriot Patrick Henry who said, "It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Can you imagine what some people might say today to such a bold statement as this. There was a time when his words were the soul of our country.

Let us remember that General George Washington led his troops in prayer before they crossed the frozen Delaware River on a cold, snowy night to surprise British and Hessian troops on December 26, 1776. They gained a great victory under the worst of conditions.

Let us remember how John Paul Jones' crew desperately tried to save their burning ship as Jones shouted to the British Captain, "I have not yet begun to fight." His ship sank, but he captured the enemy ship.

Let us remember that John Hancock signed his name boldly to the Declaration of Independence so England's King George III could see it clearly.

Our children should know of Andrew Jackson and a ragtag army who defeated the British at New Orleans in 1815. A young staff officer named Wade Hampton of South Carolina rode 750 miles in ten days to Columbia, South Carolina, then to Washington, D. C. to tell President Madison and the country of the great victory. There were no telegraphs, newspapers, radio, television or telephones then.

We have forgotten or never knew that in March, 1836 a small band of men at the Alamo stood between Santa Anna's 5,000 man army and the unprepared small army of Sam Houston. In that lonely monestary were Davy Crocket, Jim Bowie and less than two hundred men from all over the U. S. Just three days before Santa Anna's final assault, these men came into the Alamo, knowing full well they were at great risk. The men were offered the chance to leave. Only one man did leave and he did so with great regret.

On their last night on earth the Alamo men prayed that their battle would, somehow, lead to victory even though they would die. Their prayer was answered. Just weeks later at San Jacinto, Houston defeated Santa Anna with the battle cry of, "Remember the Alamo!" From that battle came the Republic of Texas, later to become a state.

Let us remember 1861 when our nation became two nations. The South under President Jefferson Davis and the North under President Abraham Lincoln, fought for four long, bloody years to decide our future.

Both armies prayed to the same God for guidance. This war has many names, but the United States Congress officially would name it "The War Between the States." Since 1865, the Confederate Battle Flag has been the blood brother of the Stars and Stripes as Southerners have taken their place at the front in all the wars of our country.

In February of 1898 the American battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor with nearly 300 dead. The Spanish-American War brought Teddy Roosevelt's "Roughriders" to Cuba to charge up San Juan Hill to victory. Old Joe Wheeler, an ex-Confederate Cavalry General, was there with him. Wheeler got excited and forgot which war he was in. He shouted, "There they are boys, go get those Yankees!"

In Greensboro, North Carolina a six year old girl named Mary Frances Barker awoke to shouts of a boy far down the street. It was 5 A.M., November 12, 1918. It was the paper boy shouting, "The War Is Over, the war is over!" World War One had finally ended on the 11day of the 11th hour of of the llth month. The "War To End All Wars" had cost the world dearly and Americans had gone and died "over there" to bring the killing to an end. Newspapers and telephones spread the word.

The United States Congress proclaimed "Armistice Day" a year later on November 11, 1919, but American dead would be coming home for years.

On Sunday, December 7, 1941 the first word of the attack on Pearl Harbor came by radio. Newspapers did run "extras" that Sunday with little information and a lot of fear. This Sunday would become "a day of infamy." On Monday, the 8th President Franklin D. Roosevelt, during a special session of Congress, told of the attack and declared war on Japan. It was broadcast on the radio.

F.D.R.'s closing words were: "With the unbounded determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God!" Seperation of Church and State was not at all popular on that day nor was it popular in the jungles of the Pacific or the hedgerows of France, on airplanes and ships, in the factories and hospitals where chaplains of all faiths gave aid, comfort and last rites to the wounded and dying. But most of all it was not and is not popular in the many cemeteries of that war where white crosses and stars of David cover the land as a silent testimony to what we as a country stand for and believe.

There was Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Desert Storm. On 9/11/01 we were attacked here at home. It was televised live right into our homes. Now we fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. Let us remember that from Korea to Iraq Americans have sacrificed for us. We can never repay the debt, but we can remember and respect the living and the dead. It is our sacred responsibility.

Armistice Day ended the First World War in 1918. In 1954 that day became Veteran's Day.

You have voted. Now it is time to remember those who gave you the the right to vote. On November 11th take the time to go to a special place and help us all remember.

God Bless America!

A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson lives near the historic town of Kennesaw, home of the locomotive "The General" from the War Between the States. His email is: cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net.