Mitch Lewis

[Revised & bumped from October 2006]

[Looking for Veterans Day resources? Also see my essay in tribute: The Veteran's Gift of Love]

Veterans Day is observed on November 11 each year on the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Traditionally, a moment of silence is observed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. And while the nations of the British Commonwealth remember their war dead on November 11 (Remembrance Day in the UK, Canada and Australia), we Americans do that on Memorial Day in May. In the United States, Veterans Day is an occasion to thank the living more than it is a day to remember the dead.

The United Methodist General Board of Discipleship has some suggestions about the observance of Veterans Day in churches. It emphasizes the fact that Veterans Day is primarily a civic observance, not a Christian liturgical one. It suggests participation in community-wide ceremonies or interfaith services as the primary venue for elaborate celebrations. The article suggests: "If churches are going to honor and give thanks for veterans, their observances should be in a context of prayer and in the concerns and prayers. Churches should not turn the entire service into a rehearsal of our national concerns." All of this is good advice.

I serve a military congregation on a military installation, and OUR worship on Veterans Day weekend will not be "all veterans, all the time." The city of Leavenworth, Kansas - home of the Army's Fort Leavenworth - annually holds what it claims is the "largest Veterans Day parade west of the Mississippi." Old soldiers stuff themselves into the uniforms of another era and parade next to bands, floats, funny cars, fire engines and assorted militaria. It is not, obviously, a religious event. The focus is on thanking all veterans for their service, and the whole county turns out. When I served at Fort Leavenworth, I would see many of the same soldiers and family members at the parade that I would see at chapel on Sunday. At the parade, we waved the flag and thanked the veteran. At chapel, God - and not the veteran - was the focus of our worship. There is a time and place for waving the flag, and a time and place for kneeling at the cross.

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On this Veterans Day / Remembrance Day weekend, I want to express my gratitude to all veterans and their families. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. And I express this appreciation not only to veterans of the armed forces of the United States, but also to veterans of the Commonwealth of Nations with whom we have worked together in the cause of peace.

Some of you are fresh from Iraq, Afghanistan or some other hot spot of the 21st Century. Others served in earlier conflicts, but the memories are still just as real as they were years ago.

A few years ago, I conducted the funeral of an aviator who died in a crash on a Pacific island at the end of World War II. It took 58 years for his remains to come home. I realized that he was the same age and served in the same theater as my father-in-law who returned to Georgia, married, started a family, entered upon a vocation, and enjoyed the fruit of the liberty that he helped save.

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