VETERANS DAY PRAYER
The sun rises in Husayah, a sailor is waiting for incoming wounded. It has been a long week. He is tired
He misses his family.
An Army Private stands guard at his post in Ramadi, Iraq. He shivers in the desert night as he stays alert and keeps watch. He thinks of his high school friends back in PA.
A sand-covered Marine pokes his head out of the turret as he looks around for IEDs and insurgent activity along the road. There can be no mistakes, and he feels the stress.
A young woman with her M16 watches the Iraqi mother and child approaching the ECP. She has to search the Iraqi women. She never knows what to expect. Her heart rate increases. She thinks of her own mother and sister.
The hands are blistered. The body is exhausted. But he continues to hammer the nails. Thousands of them. The Seabee dreams of building his own home one day.
These Marines, Sailors and Soldiers are serving their country faithfully and courageously. They miss home and their families, but they understand their mission. They do their jobs and they are proud of what they do. They are willing to make the sacrifices, to face the dangers and to do their part for the freedom of the Iraqi people.
And Veterans know . . . . They understand. . . . They remember. . . .
Almighty God, on this Veterans Day, we also remember. . . .all those Veterans who served so proudly and faithfully the Red, White and Bluethe flag of a free America. Help us to never forget the bravery, the fighting skill and the supreme sacrifices made by so many. We are oneveterans of past wars and those who fight our nations battles today. We know; we understand!
We pray that your care and divine blessings be with those who have served and with those who are now serving in the greatest military of all time. America is indeed the land of the free. Our military veterans have made it SO. God bless them ALLAMEN
Chaplain Milliner
Force Chaplain, MNF-W
FOR THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR IT, FREEDOM HAS A FLAVOR THE PROTECTED WILL NEVER KNOW
(INSCRIPTED ON A CONEX BUNKER, KHE SANH, VIET NAM, TET OFFENSIVE 1968)
