Gratitude is an interesting human trait. We say thank you when somebody does something
nice for us or gives us a present; but that only touches on the idea of
gratitude. How do we express heartfelt gratitude?
I could lead off with the highest level, the gratitude we as
individuals show for our Savior, Jesus Christ.
His gift of eternal life to mortal beings truly is incomprehensible so
we can only do our best to live a life worthy of such a gift; that’s how we
show our gratitude for His sacrifice.
But that’s not where I’m headed this Memorial Day…no, but
honoring the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in the battle for
liberty, our individual chance to live and breathe while their lives were cut
short; that’s something to consider.
I once saw a photograph of a mass burial at sea; sailors
who’d lost their lives following a kamikaze attack. The image of their shipmates carrying out the
somber task struck a chord with my soul.
They had little time to morn their friends while the business of war and
the ever present threat required the detail be carried out in haste.
Recalling a movie, The Man Who Never Was
, there are civilians who ‘stepped up to the line’, so to
speak. They served the war effort in
ways they never could have considered, some joining the ranks vicariously.
(Image: The Man Who Never Was, courtesy of sgliput.wordpress.com)
The military needed to fool the German hierarchy by
supplying them with erroneous information.
The plot was formulated to leave a military courier’s body floating off
the coast of Spain
“The corpse
will appear as a plane crash victim, the non-existent Royal Marine, Major
William Martin, who is carrying falsified letters about a forthcoming Allied
invasion of German-occupied Greece ,
rather than the obvious target of Sicily
But they needed a corpse who looked like he’d drowned in the
ocean, and so they obtained the body of a man who’d died from pneumonia (At
least that’s how this was accomplished in the movie. According to a different historical account
the body was likely obtained from a ship wreck off the northern coast of Great Britain
There was a scene in the movie where the grieving father of
the recently deceased individual was asked to donate his son’s body for the war
effort. Instead of being able to bury
his son he was being asked to trust the military, that his son would eventually
be given a proper funeral.
It’s a wonderfully well made production of a movie and worth
your efforts.
Memorial Day is for the survivors, those who didn’t die in
the service of their country. Sounds a
bit strange doesn’t it? This day is for us
to recognize and honor the sacrifices made and try to live worthily as a means
of showing gratitude for a gift that’s too hard to understand in its
entirety.
When we look at the lessons of life, particularly in the
scriptures, we see miniature versions of the big picture and use them to
understand the ultimate gift of the Savior’s Atonement. Abraham being directed to sacrifice his only
son being a shadow of the sacrifice of God’s Only Begotten Son teaches us to
see the world through His eyes.
So it is with Memorial Day as we consider and honor the gift
of liberty from those who never made it home.
