Congratulations to TSgt Jarrod Snook, my oldest son, for receiving a Leadership Award at Eielson AFB in Alaska. His return to Alaska was a precious, perfect gift! To my youngest son, his wife, Jarrod’s wife, and my grands—know that our daily communication, although we are all apart, brings me great joy and pride. As we carry on, friends, to celebrate the end of another month and begin summer, may we all “stick” to what matters most! Friends, thank you for supporting Flannel with Faith, my journey, health, and family. As we complete this month, please know I’m holding you in my heart and prayers. Although I’m not able to answer texts or calls in a timely manner, your care and concern are appreciated more than you know! Faith, family, and friends—don’t lose hope. Sing a song, call a friend, and place all other things on silent. In this sweet silence, miracles can happen!
“Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.”
Abraham Lincoln
It’s Veteran’s Day and I’m aware of the sacrifices of countless humans. The absence of a family member(s) who serves constantly lingers in my soul. I’ve not experienced a loss, but I’m aware of the unimaginable pain.
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower
I’m aware that more than a million military personnel died in the US armed forces since the Revolutionary War. There are also over a million people actively serving now. As for those who have or are serving, the number has decreased in the last 30 years. Sadly, many deaths have also been due to accidents, illness, and suicides. Awareness can be agony. It can create authentic appreciation or sadly, apathy. I honor all serving and those who’ve sacrificed through service. Those who served in our deadliest conflict are rapidly decreasing. Can we be aware of and appreciate their selfless sacrifice?
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
John F. Kennedy
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” Ronald Reagan
Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” Billy Graham
“We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.” William Shakespeare, “Henry V”
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! Maya Angelou
Embracing imperfection with faith, flannel, & fresh air
From the field of Gettysburg to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive-Pearl Harbor to Normandy Beach-The Battle of Heartbreak Ridge to the Fall of Saigon. Are we quiet on OUR western front? Will we continue fighting in needless trench warfares?
Mixed races, religions, and speeches of oneness ~we should be unified. All is not quiet on the western front.Our humanity easily slips into the smoke of the bbq grill. Rather than remember, we rejoice in the gift of time. The gift a multitude have lost. Our enemies (were) are young humans with hearts and souls. Both sides killing one another; trembling hands and heavy hearts. A bloody coat holds the picture of a wife or husband, son or daughter, a beloved pet, and a letter from a Mother.
All quiet on the Western Front? Who will decorate the graves when a generation is gone?
Do we know sacrifice? As I sit in my comfortable home, with the freedom to go, do, and be, I can’t help but remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for me. God, break my heart for what breaks yours. Greed. Power. Control.
All quiet on the Western Front? Shallow graves to shallow thinking, bloody hands to broken spirits, battles of belonging to winning wars in our hearts and minds. Defending our opinions rather than extending a hand of fellowship. Do we SEE one another as…humans? Will we honor? Or will we just forget? I’ll visit the graves of those I love, and pay respect for those I’ve never met.
I’ll never forget.
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” Abraham Lincoln (Gettysburg Address)
“Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came…Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this might scourge of war of may speedily pass away.” (Abraham Lincoln-Second Inaugural Address)
“I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.”
William Tecumseh Sherman
“It is well that war is terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.”
Robert E. Lee
“Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“All wars are civil wars, because all men are brother.”
Francois Fenelon
“The most successful war seldom pays for its losses.”
Thomas Jefferson
“There will be one day spring from the brain of science a machine or force so fearful in it’s potentialities, so absolutely terrifying, that even man, the fighter, who will dare torture and death in order to inflict torture and death, will be appalled, and so abandon war forever.”
Thomas A. Edison
“You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.”
Albert Einstein
“There was never a good war, or bad peace.”
Benjamin Franklin
“I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.”
Ulysses S. Grant
“Don’t forget what I discovered that over ninety percent of all national deficits from 1921 to 1939 were caused by payments for past, present, and future wars.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
“In modern war…you will die like a dog for no good reason.”
Ernest Hemingway
“In war, you win or lose, live or die-and the difference is just an eyelash.”
Douglas MacArthur
“What is human warfare but just this: an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Pray continually.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Do you know the ultimate sacrifice made for YOU? You are loved.
Two different views, two times, two sons serving. Thank you Jarrod & Jay.
