Illustration results for valor
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CLARION CALL OF ONE
The actions of a few are often a clarion call to courage. It requires radical sacrifice and radical commitment to accomplish these things. All that it takes is for one man to refuse to surrender!
Anyone who is familiar with Winston Churchill understands that he was such a man who refused to give in to surrender. His first statement as Prime Minister to the House of Commons on May 13, 1940 was this: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."
Three weeks later after the capture of Dunkirk, Churchill rallied his nation with these words:
"We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
Five months later, reporting on the war situation to the House of Commons, Churchill said,
"Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment; constancy and valor our only shield. We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible."
In a unique speech to the London County Council, July 14, 1941, he referred to a "comradeship of suffering, or endurance" and told Hitler and his Nazi forces: "We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. You do your worst-—and we will do our best." And later, "We shall never turn from our purpose, however somber the road, however grievous the cost."
He stirred the boys of Harrow School that same year on October 29:
"Do not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days: these are great days-—the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race."
He pressed, motivated, and drove his countrymen to a victory over the German armies that bombed and harassed them in World War II. One man can make a difference!
(From a sermon by Philip Harrelson, "What the King Desires" 1/30/2009)
DEFINING MOMENTS OF FAITH
Several years ago Jeff Strueker was a US Army Ranger posted in Mogadishu, Somalia. Today he is a master of divinity student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
For him Oct 3-4, 1993 were the defining moments of his life. He was one of the troops called on to go into the center Mogadisu to secure a building as part of a larger operation. The movie “Black Hawk Down” came out about a year ago chronicling the events of those two days.
In the first trip into the city he and most of his friends got out through a hailstorm of bullets. One man was shot and killed. It was then that he felt the fear. He began to pray. The humvee was painted with blood as they escaped the city with their dead and wounded comrades.
The news soon worsened. A helicopter was shot down. The team received orders to return to the melee. Yet, his men understandably couldn’t fight in the bloody humvees. Struecker spent the next 30 to 45 minutes cleaning. No running water. Only sponges and buckets.
"I began to talk to the Lord. I thought I was going to die," he said. Feeling his fear grow, he began to ask God to protect him. But his prayer soon changed.
"I’ll never forget this for the rest of my life. ... A scene appeared in the landscape of my mind. The scene was Jesus in the Garden. ... He clearly and honestly knew that he was going to die. ... He also showed that he did not want to go to that cross and die. And I knew that I didn’t want to die that night. But Jesus courageously said, ’God, not my will, but yours be done.’
"If I die tonight, that’s fine, as long as your will is done," Struecker said. For the first time in his life, Struecker -- who had been a Christian since age 13 -- was prepared to die. "God spoke to my mind and my heart and said, ’I’ve been protecting you every day of your life,’" Struecker said. "He did not tell me, ’You will live through the night.’ He simply showed me my life has always been in his hands."
Struecker and his men returned to the field of fire in Mogadishu that night and fought with a God-given courage. The sergeant first class would later be awarded the Bronze Star Medal "V" for valor. "I fought differently that night than everybody else ... because of my faith," Struecker said. God had given him a "supernatural peace" in the midst of pandemonium, further firefights and an ambush that nearly blew his humvee off the road.
"I began to understand God’s omnipotent power," Struecker said. "He was orchestrating every single bullet that was fired that night. ... The peace that I had was not only for my own life, but for the lives of my soldiers. If any of them were to get shot, then that was part of God’s sovereign plan." And God chose to preserve Struecker that night.
(CITATION: http://www.family.org/teenguys/breakmag/features/
a0023481.html)
I WISH YOU HAD HELPED ME
Two soldiers, traveling together, were set upon by a robber. The one fled away; the other stood his ground, and defended himself with his stout right hand.
The robber being slain, the timid companion runs up and draws his sword, and then, throwing back his traveling cloak, says: "I'll at him, and I'll take care he shall learn whom he has attacked."
On this, he who had fought with the robber made answer: "I only wish that you had helped me just now, even if it had been only with those words, for I should have been the more encouraged, believing them to be true; but now put up your sword in its sheath and hold your equally useless tongue, till you can deceive others who do not know you. I, indeed, who have experienced with what speed you ran away, know right well that no dependence can be placed on your valor."
(Aesop)
The Unbaptized Arm
Ivan the Great was the tsar of all of Russia during the Fifteenth Century. He brought together the warring tribes into one vast empire--the Soviet Union. As a fighting man he was courageous. As a general he was brilliant. He drove out the Tartars and established peace across the nation.
However, Ivan was so busy waging his campaigns that he did not have a family. His friends and advisers were quite concerned. They reminded him that there was no heir to the throne, and should anything happen to him the union would shatter into chaos. "You must take a wife who can bear you a son." The busy soldier statesman said to them that he did not have the time to search for a bride, but if they would find a suitable one, he would marry her.
The counselors and advisers searched the capitals of Europe to find an appropriate wife for the great tsar. And find her, they did. They reported to Ivan of the beautiful dark eyed daughter of the King of Greece. She was young, brilliant, and charming. He agreed to marry her sight unseen.
The King of Greece was delighted. It would align Greece in a favorable way with the emerging giant of the north. But there had to be one condition, "He cannot marry my daughter unless he becomes a member of the Greek Orthodox Church." Ivan’s response, "I will do it!"
So, a priest was dispatched to Moscow to instruct Ivan in Orthodox doctrine. Ivan was a quick student and learned the catechism in record time. Arrangements were concluded, and the tsar made his way to Athens accompanied by 500 of his crack troops--his personal palace guard.
He was to be baptized into the Orthodox church by immersion, as was the custom of the Eastern Church. His soldiers, ever loyal, asked to be baptized also. The Patriarch of the Church assigned 500 priests to give the soldiers a one-on-one catechism crash course. The soldiers, all 500 of them, were to be immersed in one mass baptism. Crowds gathered from all over Greece.
What a sight that must have been, 500 priests and 500 soldiers, a thousand people, walking into the blue Mediterranean. The priests were dressed in black robes and tall black hats, the official dress of the Orthodox Church. The soldiers wore their battle uniforms with of all their regalia--ribbons of valor, medals of courage. and their weapons of battle.
Suddenly, there was a problem. The Church prohibited professional soldiers from being members; they w...
FOUR CHAPLAINS
It was the evening of Feb. 2, 1943, and the U.S. Army Transport Ship Dorchester was crowded to capacity. Hans J. Danielsen, the ship's captain, was concerned and cautious. He knew they were in dangerous waters; German U-boats were constantly prowling these vital sea lanes, and several ships had already been sunk.
The Dorchester was only 150 miles from its destination, but the captain ordered the men to sleep in their clothing and keep life jackets on. Many soldiers sleeping deep in the ship's hold disregarded the order because of the engine's heat. Others ignored it because the life jackets were uncomfortable.
On Feb. 3, at 12:55 a.m., a periscope broke the chilly Atlantic waters. Through the cross hairs, an officer aboard the German submarine U-223 spotted the Dorchester and fired. One torpedo hit--striking the starboard side--far below the water line. Moments later, the Captain gave the order to abandon ship. In less than 20 minutes, the Dorchester would slip beneath the Atlantic's icy waters.
Panic and chaos had set in. Men jumped from the ship into lifeboats, over-crowding them to the point of capsizing. Through the chaos, four Army chaplains brought hope in despair and light in darkness. Those chaplains were Lt. George Fox, Methodist; Lt. Alexander Goode, Jewish; Lt. John Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Clark Poling, Dutch Reformed.
Quickly and quietly, the four spread out among the soldiers. There they tried to calm the frightened, tend the wounded and guide the disoriented toward safety. One Army Private found himself floating in oil-smeared water surrounded by dead bodies and debris. "I could hear men crying, pleading, praying," He recalled. "I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going."
Another sailor, PO John Mahoney tried to reenter his cabin, but Rabbi Goode stopped him. The sailor concerned about the cold Arctic air, explained he had forgotten his gloves. "Never mind," CHP Goode responded. "I have two pairs." The rabbi then gave the petty officer his own gloves. In retrospect, Mahoney realized that Rabbi Goode was not conveniently carrying two pairs of gloves, and that the rabbi had decided not to leave the Dorchester.
By this time, most of the men were topside, and the chaplains opened a storage locker and began distributing life jackets. It was then that Engineer Grady Clark witnessed an astonishing sight. When there were no more lifejackets in the storage room, the chaplains removed theirs and gave them to four frightened young men.
"It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven," said John Ladd, another survivor who saw the chaplains' selfless act. Ladd's response is understandable. The altruistic action of the four chaplains constitutes one of the purest spiritual and ethical acts a person can make. When giving their life jackets, Rabbi Goode did not call out for a Jew; Father Washington did not call out for a Catholic; nor did the Reverends Fox and Poling call out for a Protestant. They simply gave their life jackets to the next man in line.
As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains —arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could also be heard offering prayers.
When the news reached American shores, the nation was stunned by the magnitude of the tragedy and heroic conduct of the four chaplains.
"Valor is a gift," Carl Sandburg once said. "Those having it never know for sure whether they have it until the test comes." That night Chaplains Fox, Goode, Poling and Washington passed life's ultimate test. In doing so, they became an enduring example of extraordinary faith, courage and selflessness.
Randy Aly
When John McNeill, the Scottish evangelist, landed in France for duty during the World War, he was introduced to the general in command, who said that he would like to give him suggestions about his preaching to the men. McNeill’s biographer describes the incident: "What the general wanted him to do was to instruct the men that, when they went over the top, if they fell, it would be all right for them in the next world. They had died for their country. Mr. McNeill replied: General, if one of the men under your command were to win the Victoria Cross for valor, and I were to belittle the deed by which the decoration was won, you would not like it. And I want to tell you, General, that you are cheapening my Lord’s sacrifice." The incident ended at that point."
Three years and a half years ago, an incident occurred that I filed back because I knew at some point that I would have a message to place it in. In fact, I heard Anthony Mangun use it in a message that he preached. I have some friends that incorporated it into some sermons that they preached. For whatever reason, I briefly mentioned it in a Sunday School lesson but never used it with a sermon. . . until now. . .
On April 26, 2003, Aron Ralston was enjoying a passion that he had. Aron loved climbing mountains in a remote area of Utah. While he was climbing through a tiny opening about three feet wide, he put his right hand on a nearby boulder to adequately brace himself to climb through the opening. When he did, his weight caused the huge boulder to shift and the shifting trapped his hand. He did everything that he could to free his hand but nothing worked. As darkness fell that night, he knew he was in trouble. By the way, April 26 was on a Saturday.
By Tuesday, he was completely out of water and had given up the hope that he would be found by any other climbers who were in the area. If he was going to survive, he was going to have to save himself. Now he was done to only one escape route. It was a morbid one but it was all that he had left now. Not only was it morbid, it was almost unthinkable. . . he was considering cutting off his arm directly below his elbow. The difficulty was the knife that he had. It was a small, dull pocket knife and he had earlier tried to begin cutting his arm but the dull knife wouldn’t even break the skin.
Aron spent most of Wednesday trying to think of exactly what he would have to do to amputate his arm. He knew that a tourniquet was imperative because he could not afford to lose much blood. After a day and half without water, he was in a serious state of dehydration and weak from the lack of food. Trying to think through more of the details, he thought that he was probably five miles or more from his pickup.
On Thursday, his fifth day, he decided that it was going to be now or never. . . His arm or his life. It brings to mind what Jesus said. . .
Matthew 5:30 KJV And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
I have met a lot of people in my life who were trapped just like Aron—not in some remote mountainous area in Utah but in habits and lifestyles. Some are trapped by habits and whims of their flesh. Others have fallen prey to thinking that around the next bend in life, they will finally capture the “big deal.”
But unlike Aron, they are totally oblivious to their entrapment. Death is looking them squarely in the eye and they lack perception of the matter. To their way of thinking, “I have just made some bad business deals. I have made a few wrong turns. I can quit anytime I choose to.”
However, when you get in that deep, getting out requires some drastic and immediate action. For Aron, it was his arm or his life. He had to make a hard, difficult, and serious choice. He could not have them both.
Aron was a man of valor, he made the tough choice. After a crude amputation, he rappelled down a 60-foot cliff and hiked nearly six miles before the rescuers spotted him. He then was air-lifted to a hospital ER where park ranger Steve Swanke told reporters, “I’ve never seen anybody like him. His will to live is unbelievable. I’ve been doing this for twenty-five years and I’ve never seen a warrior like him.”
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg--or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul’s ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can’t tell a vet just by looking.
What is a vet?
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn’t run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She--or he--is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back another--or didn’t come back at all.
He is the Quantico drill instructor that has never seen combat--but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other’s backs.
He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor die unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean’s sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket--palsied now and aggravatingly slow--who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being, a person who offered some of his life’s most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each...
"Real valor consists not in being insensible to danger, but in being prompt to confront and disarm it."
Pat Tillman played safety for the Arizona Cardinals for four years and was offered a 3.6 million dollar contract to return in the fall of 2002 when he decided to LEAVE his LUCRATIVE FOOTBALL CAREER to join the ARMY in response to the 9/11 ATTACK on America. He was trained as an Army Ranger, an elite force EQUIPPED for SPECIAL OPERATIONS.
Tillman was sent to Afghanistan to fight in the WAR on TERROR in Operation Freedom. He was killed on April 22, 2004. Reports said that Tillman was killed while charging at the ENEMY up a hill after being fired upon in a mortar attack, allowing the rest of his PLATOON to escape alive. He was awarded the SILVER STAR for Combat Valor and the PURPLE HEART. Arizona Senator John McCain presented the metals to Tillman’s family at a special CEREMONY.
Within weeks of his death, however, other reports began to surface which revealed that Tillman was not KILLED by ENEMY FIRE after all, but by FRIENDLY FIRE. Apparently there was a MINE EXPLOSION that was mistaken for a MORTAR ATTACK. One group of Army Rangers began to FIRE upon Tillman’s GROUP who had mistaken four ALLY AFGHAN FIGHTERS who were with Tillman as being the ENEMY. After the smoke cleared, Pat Tillman was killed along with an Afghan Fighter and three other American soldiers were WOUNDED. There were no ENEMY FORCES around.
Since Operation Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom, dozens of American Soldiers have been KILLED by FRIENDLY FIRE. Undoubtedly, nothing HURTS military personnel more than to hear of their own COMRADES being KILLED by their FELLOW SOLDIERS.
Are we also guilty of friendly fire in the church?
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