Elmer's Brother

I encourage you today to remember those who gave their lives for this country. My family and I would often go to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery and read the headstones. Some of the more interesting ones included Medal of Honor recipients and their citations. Then we would read the Gettysburg Address etched in stone and be reminded that this country has been bought with a price. Remember.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. James Dobson's open letter to the military. To view the complete letter go to fotf.org

In 1984, on the 40th anniversary of the landing, President Reagan spoke amidst the windswept cliffs of Normandy. His words hold great relevance for both our nation and your efforts today:

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge — and pray God we have not lost it — that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

Something else helped the men of D-Day; their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them: Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do. Also, that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

And these are the things that will hold you steady when the world seems to be pulling you apart. I will leave you with these words: We love you. We are praying for you daily, and you are making us proud in the process. Your work is not only noble, but it will leave a legacy long after any of us remain here on earth. Please, if you ever find yourself in Colorado Springs, stop by to see us. Every single one of you is an American hero of inestimable worth. May God keep you safe and preserve your families in your absence.

A grateful citizen,

James C. Dobson, Ph.D.