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Veterans Day 2016

WELCOME!
WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE HERE

We are a group of believers who simply try to follow the Bible as a guide for all we do. Everything done in our worship service is something for which we have a Bible basis. You are welcome to participate as much or as little as you wish. We will sing hymns together and we will observe the Lord's Supper or Communion together. We will also have an opportunity to give to the work of God in this area. This collection is for the members here, and if you are visiting you should not feel and pressure to give. Our lesson time will be divided into two groups. The young children will go to our classroom area in the basement where they will be taught the Bible at a level they can understand. The adults will stay in the auditorium for a lesson at an adult level. We do try to serve the community, and if you have some needs that we can help you with, mention it to one of the members. Thank you for worshipping with us.

VETERANS DAY 2016

Forty plus years ago this veteran sat in the left seat of a UH-1H Huey helicopter cockpit. I had already done the 30 minute per-flight inspection. That included the normal: check the fluid level of the transmission; cleared the water out of the fuel cell; make sure the 4-5/8” bolts that hold the tail-boom on had not moved; the safety wire of the linear actuator was not negative; all the cowling was snapped and secure and all the other items looked proper. I then turned the battery switch to “ON” and pulled the starting “trigger” for 40 seconds. The Lycoming engine comes to life and reached 6600 rpm and the rotor reaches 330 rpm, ready for “pitch pull” and hover out for “take off.” I was confident that both the machine and I could do what was required.

Every veteran here today and those wherever they may be have a similar remembrance of their time serving this great country. We all were trained to do our job, we were trained to do that job whenever and wherever we were needed.

Yes, some carry the physical and emotional wounds that will NOT heal.

Yes, some have lost their close friends.

Yes, some are now homeless.

Yes, some are in crisis because their families have deserted them.

Yes, some have seen things that no human should have to see.

BUT most veterans will say they served so others did not have to suffer the results of tyranny, oppression, and destitution that they helped to dispose of. The giving a child a drink of water from a canteen, the helping of a wounded mother to get the medical help needed, the list goes on.

SO — today (actually Friday) as we contemplate what Veterans Day is all about, let us not forget that the freedoms we have now still need to be protected today by those on active duty. All it takes is for us to forget and the next generation, forgets and not to far away we are the ones that need the services of those who serve.

The world soon forgot what 11-11 on 11-11 meant and we have again, and again, and again forgot that was “the war to end all wars!”

“LEST WE FORGET, REMEMBER THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED”

written by Richard P. Hoyt, 2016, Dowagiac Church of Christ