Veterans and families remember that moment of leaving home the first time, the tearful good-by, the turning around to walk away. Suddenly a short lifetime of growing up in a happy home has changed into a lonely and frightening walk into the unknown. Veterans Day is not just about the one who wore the uniform, but also the Fathers and Mothers, Wives and Husbands, Children, Brothers and Sisters, and a host of family and friends who held tightly to their hero, who worried and prayed for a safe return.

A Veteran is not just a person, but also a people around that person; those who shared the fear and loneliness of those days.

A few years ago I walked with one of our church families down a hall at the Veterans Hospital. It was an Honor Walk behind a veteran, loved one, and a faithful member of our church who had finished his earthly tour of duty. As Taps were being played, the hall was lined with staff who held hands over their hearts, and old soldiers who with trembling hands saluted one more time. I can’t put in words the feelings of my own heart. Only yesterday those were young hands answering the call of reveille, and all too soon the sound of Taps.

“Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.”

It is a day of honor for all of us who live in this land of the free, and the home of the brave. Thank God for every sacrifice, big or small, we are still free, we are still ONE NATION UNDER GOD.