This is the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the United States. It is a time to remember and reflect on the sacrifices that the U.S. Military has made for the benefit of the nation, and many would add, the world.

In May 2007, the nation and world are dividing over the value and meaning of the current war in which our nation’s soldiers serve: the Iraq War. As I write this, we are closing in on a total of 3,500 U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq War. Of course, many more have been wounded.

I have to limit my comments to those of an American citizen. I don’t have any more “skin in the game” than that: I did not lose any close family or friends in the attack on the World Trade Center, none of my family or friends have been killed in Iraq, and I am not Iraqi in nationality.

Some people I know have served there, and I’m grateful to God that they were not hurt physically, and have returned to the U.S.

The U.S., along with other nations who have sent troops there, have taken an increasing amount of heat. That is understandable; the evidence that led us to invade Iraq and overthrow the Hussein rule has been discredited. The recovery of the fledgling independent Iraq has been mired by escalating brutality and infighting.

In a war, two opposing views will always emerge: one that says fight until we win; one that says no one wins in war, and let’s stop the madness. These views can coincide within the same person, where a soldier decides to deploy because of a sense of duty and mission, yet sees the seemingly impossible situation and wonders when it will get better. It coincides within me, as I continue to support the decision that was based on faulty evidence, but struck a major blow against terrorism–while seeing that the cost is much greater than anyone would want.

So here are two photos that I want to share. Both are from a summer parade in my hometown. The first shows the applause of grateful Americans, showered on representatives of our nation’s military, who proudly carry the flag. The second shows the flag flapping over a group of regular people–who are members of my church. They were raising support for a project to raise supplies and food for Americans left homeless and destitute by Hurricane Katrina. The project resulted in a semi-trailer packed full of supplies that was sent to Mississippi.

The first flag pictured represents our nation’s dedication to freedom, honor and sacrifice.

The second flag represents the caring heart of this nation, able to spread blessings to others in large part due to the sacrifices of our soldiers in wars current and past.

You are welcomed to send your comments, but I don’t want to engage in a debate about the Iraq War, President Bush, or American global politics. Save that for another day. This day is reserved for the sacrifice of soldiers–living and dead.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2007 at 12:20 pm and is filed under General, blogging, communications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.