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Memorial Day

On Memorial Day

May 24, 2015 By Michele Woodward Leave a Comment

 

 

photo credit: James Tourtellotte

As difficult as my working life has been at times, one thing is true: I’ve never had to face enemy fire.

I’ve never had to quickly assess the risk threat and ask my people to advance into certain combat – and possible death.

I’ve never been far from home, hungry and exhausted, in a strange land with a different language and differing customs carrying an eighty pound pack through sandstorms,  snowstorms, rainstorms over mountains, through rivers, in jungles.

I haven’t been on a small boat in a big ocean, looking for the incoming weaponry that could sink my vessel.

I’ve not been in an airplane, tracing a safe route through enemy flak.

No, I’ve not been tested in these ways.

And so today and every day I honor those who served and those who gave their lives in service to their country.

It’s awe-inspiring and humbling to consider the men and the women who simply saw a need and filled it. Who went above and beyond not only because they could but because – in one split second – they knew they had to do something to save the lives of others.

I’m especially moved by those who never expected to be in combat but found themselves there. The nurses, the quartermasters, the cooks – those people who stepped up when duty called, and did what needed to be done.

Some of these people, in fact, lie in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery – their names are not known but their heroism is never forgotten.

All soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen – they are valuable beyond measure, and stand shoulder to shoulder in a line of service which leads from our nation’s earliest days directly to today.

At the Gettysburg battlefield over 150 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln said:

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Today, I honor the last full measure of devotion of so many. Those honored dead who bravely did what so many of us have not done.

It is to them this day is dedicated, with respect and honor for their great sacrifice and the great sacrifice of the families they left behind.

 

photo credit: James Tourtellotte

 

 

Filed Under: Authenticity, Blog, Clarity, Happier Living, Uncategorized, WiseWork Tagged With: Abraham Lincoln, Memorial Day, military service, sacrifice, service

In Memory Of Those Gone

May 26, 2013 By Michele Woodward 2 Comments

Medal of HonorI read the obituaries every day.

Not because I’m morbid and want to encourage the feeling of impending doom, but because a well-written obituary is a great story.

And to read a story of a life well-lived is to honor that life, in some small way.

So, yeah, I read obituaries and I say a little thank you to the person who’s gone… a thank you for being a doctor and a cheesemaker, or a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist turned professor, or a Medal of Honor winner who continued to help veterans for thirty years after his service ended.

It was appropriate that the last story, honoring the life of Sergeant Vernon McGarity, appeared in The Washington Post on Memorial Day weekend and, noting the timing, I took a slow and careful read through his obituary. Here’s the piece if you’d like to read it:

Vernon McGarity, World War II veteran who received the Medal of Honor, dies at 91 by Emily Langer

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be tested like Sergeant McGarity was.

I wonder what it would be like to be in a battle where the American forces suffered 89,500 casualties including 19,000 killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 missing. Would I stand up like Sergeant McGarity and fight for my squad with grit and tenacity, regardless of the personal consequence? Would I – could I – do it?

And to then spend time in a prisoner of war camp? In winter? For the duration of the war?

To be honest, I don’t know that any of us who’ve not been tested in that way know what we’d do if the moment came, but in reading Vernon McGarity’s story, I saw an example of what’s possible when someone stands up and shows up.

I saw a path through any kind of challenge:

Do what needs to be done under whatever circumstances you find yourself in.

The Post story says, “Reflecting on the battle years later, Sgt. McGarity told an interviewer, ‘The last words I heard were to hold at all costs.'”

And so that’s what he did. He held.

Against all odds.

Without regard to personal cost.

With the highest distinction.

And adherence to integrity.

Sergeant Vernon McGarity did what needed to be done. Just as our men and women in uniform have done for centuries in this country, and are doing this very day.

“‘Next time we feel like giving up, we’ll remember Vernon McGarity,’ reads the Checkerboard tribute,” the Washington Post reports, quoting a 1970 tribute by the 99th Infantry Division’s publication. “‘Next time we think we have an impossible job, with nothing but trouble and no hope of recognition, we’ll remember Vernon McGarity — he proved that we can win by coming back for more.’ ”

Yes, indeed.

To all who serve, and who have served, and the families that love and support them… thank you. You live lives that matter – to all of us.

 

Filed Under: Authenticity, Blog, Clarity, Happier Living, Uncategorized, WiseWork Tagged With: challenges, coping, meeting challenges, Memorial Day, service, Vernon McGarity, washington post

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