While people are celebrating Memorial Day, on vacation, at beaches and enjoying a day off, the day was designated to commemorate those who lost their lives in war.
Rev. Robert Scotland, a veteran and pastor at Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Winnsboro, South Carolina preached on Sunday about the significance of the holiday. His sermon was titled “Pause and Remember.”
Rev. Robert Scotland: As I thought about Memorial Day weekend, I thought about what it really is about in terms of memorializing those persons who gave their lives in war for this country. And of course, I had three scripted takes that I used that also talk about memorials in the Bible - two in the Old Testament, and one in the New Testament - that deals with the memorial feast that Jesus had.
And with that in mind, I realized that we go about living our daily lives, doing what we have to do, our jobs, our families, taking care of our business and so forth, but probably not really often thinking about some of what has gone into providing the freedoms that we have.
One aspect of that is realizing that many wars have been fought and many lives have been lost. Memorial Day is really set aside to really focus on and to remember those persons who made the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to continue to live and have the opportunity to live even better in a free society, and how important it is for us not to forget those people and what they did.
Freedom always comes at a price, and we may not have to pay that price, but somebody had to. So I thought it's important for us to really pause and be thankful for their willingness to serve.
And as I mentioned yesterday, some volunteered and some didn't. But once they were in the military, even by being drafted, they still did what they were commissioned to do. And in many cases, it took their lives.
Then think about how we can commit ourselves and continue to live our lives and fight for the things that they died for, to make sure that freedom is passed on to the succeeding generation and so forth.
Gwendolyn Glenn: You mentioned that some volunteer to go and serve the country, while some were drafted. You served as well. What branch that you served in and were you drafted or did you volunteer?
Scotland: I volunteered right out of high school, and I served in the Army as a chaplain assistant. I went in during the Vietnam War. I did not have to go to Vietnam in the war, but I did help refugees who were brought back from Vietnam, and I brought those back in 1975.
Glenn: And you did have friends, though, who went to Vietnam, and some of them did not come home. So I'm sure you're remembering them. Tell us about some of them.
Scotland: Each year, doing worship I call those guys names. There were three young men that I grew up with: one was a distant relative, Clive Martin, Horace Jones and Melvin Bowman. I remember specifically they’re going in and the community rallying around their families, being concerned about them, and the fact that all of their lives are lost. I attended all of their funerals. I had a brother go to Vietnam, we were fortunate that he did not lose his life, and he's still with us today.
Glenn: Where is home?
Scotland: I grew up in a small town in Anderson County called Iva, South Carolina.
Glenn: And do you know the circumstances of what happened to your three friends?
Scotland: All of them were actively engaged in battle in Vietnam in some sense. I do think, however, that one of them, unfortunately, was killed by friendly fire.
Glenn: Do you think that Memorial Day gets the respect and that people really think about it? Because what I hear a lot is that people are thinking about cookouts going to the beach and that thing. Do you think that what it's really about is on the minds of many people?
Scotland: That is one of the reasons I chose that subject because so often, Miss Gwen, I think it may not be. We’re used to being very excited about a holiday, to have a day off, to get with family and friends, to have a cookout. So I often think we do not pause to really think about what Memorial Day is really all about.
Glenn: So what do you do to remember Memorial Day? How do you celebrate it?
Scotland: I often pause and read something that relates to Memorial Day in particular, the three young men with whom I grew up, and that there's a memorial here in Columbia with their names on it. There have been times I've gone there to visit that memorial. Also, I will say a prayer to express my thanks and just remember the loss of those families, and then think about ways that I can still be involved in fighting now, for freedom as a living person.
Glenn: And today, what did your day entail today?
Scotland: Again, I plan to do some reading and to say a prayer and then to I've got a grandson here, so I'm going to talk to him a little bit about what this day is really all about. He's five years old, so I think he would be able to understand some of that. So in that way, I began to try to pass some of that on.
Glenn: Anything else you would like to ay in terms of getting people to think more about it?
Scotland: I do believe that this is a great country. And so I would like to just remind all of us that, you know, one of the greatest things we can do is to serve those causes that can benefit the large society in many ways. So for Memorial Day, I just hope people really just stop, really to think about the fact that Memorial Day's specific purpose is to memorialize those persons who lost their lives in order for us to be able to continue to live. And that's significant to me, really significant to me, especially being a veteran.
Glenn: And I have many veterans in my family from my father, my brother, my nephews and my Aunt Josie was a colonel.
