Blessed Memorial Day everyone. On this day I feel such gratitude for those men and women who gave "their last full measure of devotion." (Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address)
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| Valley Forge |
Lincoln and Washington and many other founders and protectors of our nation understood that we in America have a covenant with God. When we have honored it, He has protected and guided our nation. Any close study of the Revolutionary War leads to only one conclusion: there is no way a little upstart group of colonies (who couldn't even agree among themselves) should have defeated the greatest military and naval force in the world except that they be protected by God. They did it again in 1812 .
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| Lincoln with his officers |
In the Civil War, the South actually had better generals than the north. Robert E. Lee was the most brilliant military strategist in the land. Had the south not lost Stonewall Jackson, Lee's good right arm, the south may have won the war. But Lincoln knew that if slavery was to continue and proliferate, we would have broken a divine covenant. U. S. Grant had a similar philosophy. The north had to win to break the back of the institution of men owning other men, and so they won.
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| General "Black Jack" Pershing |
In World War I, when the American Doughboy went "over there" to France shouting, "Lafayette, we are here!" God's protective hand was at work. Although He hates contention and wars of aggression, but as Captain Moroni knew, when one if fighting to defend his wife, children, liberty, and religion, God will bless them. With that, and the wisdom of the leader of the American troops, General "Black Jack" Pershing, who insisted that American troops stay together instead of filling in the "holes" in the trenches, as the European allies wanted. He kept his troops together and they helped turn the tide of the war.
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| "Skipper" |
World War II was also a defensive and defensible war to protect all humanity from the evils of the Nazi ideology. My father flew a "Flying Fortress" B-17 bomber for 37 raids over German occupied territory. Before he left, he received a letter from the First Presidency confirming his moral right to fight and that if he lived, he would live in the Lord and if he died, He would die in the Lord. I am grateful that he lived. He was a great patriot and raised me to love my country and its God-given rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
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| Patton and the Prayer |
One of the stories from that war involved American General George Patton. Patton was, by all reports, a hard living and hard leading man. But on the eve of a major offensive, it began to rain, and rain, and rain. The weather was so bad and the roads so impassible that Patton knew the entire operation would have to be scratched at a huge strategic cost. He knew that, despite his tough guy persona, he was helpless against the weather, so he called on one of the army chaplains to write a special prayer to God asking Him to moderate the weather. The chaplain, though hesitant, wrote the prayer, and it was read out loud to every unit in the campaign. On the morning of the schedule advance, the rain had stopped and the army moved forward to success.
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The war between good and evil began in our pre-earth life and it continues today on multiple fronts. For the most part, it is not a war of tanks and bombs, but was war of words and ideology. It is disguised as a simple "differences of political opinions, but don't fool yourself. We are all warriors in this water. Every time we say a prayer, study the scriptures, love our families, and serve others, we are striking a blow for freedom. I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan says, "Oh, no. She's awake!"
© May 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings
Buntin Danielson
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