Remember the Four Chaplains this Memorial Day

This week we “Remembered and Give Thanks” for those who have served in our armed forces. Our nation is blessed with a heritage of recognizing responsibility, duty, service, AND sacrifice. The history of Memorial Day goes back to 1869 when the head of an organization of Union Veterans, Major General John A. Logan, established “Decoration Day” as a way for the nation to honor the graves of those who died in the Civil War with flowers. There is also some thought that “Decoration Day” was so described as it is also the term used in regard to “Decorated Soldiers”.

Each of us has our own connections to those who have served, whether that is with family or friends. My grandfather served in the Danish Cavalry and then came to the United States and served in the U.S. Army. My dad served in World War II in the Philippines and Japan where he earned his Sergeant stripes and drove a tank, ultimately ending up in Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the bombs were dropped. He and two of his combat buddies died of the same type of cancer within a year of each other, likely due to radiation exposure. My brother retired as a Major from the Air Force. My wife’s brother and one of my uncles served in Vietnam during the time when casualties were displayed on the nightly news each day.  

Over one million American men and women have died in service to the cause of freedom not just for America, but for those who are oppressed all across the globe.  

Selfless service is demonstrated in the stories of thousands who have served in both wartime and here at home, but there is one particular war story that brings the reason for service back to the heart of the matter. And, that is the true story of the “Four Chaplains”. George Fox (Methodist), Alexander Goode (Jewish), John Washington (Catholic), and Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed).  

The Four Chaplains served in WW II and were accompanying troops who were being transported to Europe in 1943. The military had reduced its inventory of ships and supplies after WWI, so there was a need to make use of luxury liners to transport those troops. One fateful night the ‘Dorchester’ was making its way to Greenland on its way to Europe when it was struck by a German torpedo. The ship went down within 20 minutes. The souls on board numbered 902, and only 229 survived. There weren’t enough life jackets above deck and panic ensued. Meanwhile, those Four Chaplains directed the men to lifeboats and tried to calm the fears of those who were shocked at what they were facing. Within minutes there were no more life jackets to be found and the Four Chaplains gave their own jackets to the last four men. As the ship slipped beneath the frigid waters there were observers who recounted how those four men stood arm in arm and prayed aloud for the souls who were about to die. They sacrificed their lives as they recognized that there was a God in heaven with whom each person would stand to give account.

That heroic and act of selfless service is an example to us all. Our nation and our state is founded upon the recognition that our freedoms come from God and God alone. Our own constitution begins with thankfulness to Almighty God. That knowledge should lead each one of us to choose to ‘give back’ a portion of that with which we have been blessed. That can come in the form of military service or service to friends, family and community.

Hopefully, we will carry these truths forward and make our part of the world a better place in which to live and REMEMBER that our true freedom comes only in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  

We know that “greater love has no one than this, that one would lay down his life for his friends…” and his country. May God bless the memory of those who we remember AND honor this week.

Please go to www.sdlegislature.gov to see what else is coming up in state government in the days ahead.