The Tears of a Grateful Nation

by: sharon hughes | published: 06 01, 2010

I'll never forget, as a young, brand new mom, burying my dad, a veteran of WWII and the Korean War. The gun-salute, the bugle playing, the folding of the flag that lay on his coffin, the young soldier handing that flag to me...and the tears.

I'll never forget the letters from my husband Duane when he was in Viet Nam, telling me of some of his men who had been killed in battle...and crying for them, and with him.

I can't go to a Memorial Day Service and not be inspired by the stories of valor and courage told...without crying tears of awe.

I can't pass a military cemetary without the quiet pause that comes from remembering the realities of war and thinking about the sacrifice of so many to secure my freedom...without tears welling up in my eyes.

I am sure it is the same for you.

Today, Memorial Day, is the day a grateful nation remembers, pays tribute to...and, as someone said, "On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a grateful nation."

While some may write tears off as emotionalism, most of us know that tears, real tears, come from a place deep inside as a response to something held, or lost, of great value.

As my mother-in-law use to say, "If you don't feel strong enough about something to cry about it, you don't feel strong enough about it."

Some of my tears today are for those who don't really understand what today is all about...who don't stop to pay tribute...who have never shed a tear of gratefulness for the cost of the freedom secured for them. But I thank God for those who do understand...

"Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for another." -John 15:13

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