Today I
want to discuss some thoughts on the meaning of Veterans Day.
The First
World War (the War to end all wars) ended at 11 AM on the 11th day of
the 11th month 1918. After the war ended, Congress declared November
11th an annual holiday and called it Armistice Day. Canada observes the
same holiday, calling it Remembrance Day. Sometime after the Second
World War the name was changed to Veterans Day but the holiday was kept
on the same date, except for a brief period from 1971-1977.
The
holiday is intended as a tribute to veterans, both alive and dead. The
President usually attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery; various cities and towns have
Veterans Day parades by Veterans Organizations, patriotic citizens, and
schools. Until about 1960 respect and appreciation toward veterans has
been demonstrated by virtually all Americans. Since 1960 Americans have
shown a declining interest in veterans and the positive side of American
history, particularly American military history. Why this decline in
patriotism? Why do more and more cities discontinue their Veterans Day
parades? Why do more and more citizens look at our national holidays as
just another day off work, another day to watch the ball game or go to
the beach or some other form of recreation? Why do most cities have
Veterans Memorial buildings built years ago but few are built today? In
fact, why have so many been torn down and not replaced?
I want to
review the course of U.S. military history. We could start as far back
as Columbus, a man who pictured himself as fulfilling a great purpose of
God. But this sermon does have a time limit and I would like to talk
about events in the lifetime of you listeners, so I'm going to limit it
to events after about 1930.
World War
II was destined to affect more nations, damage more property, cost more
money, and kill more people than any past war. Some estimate total
military and civilian deaths to have been about fifty-five million.
In the
1920s and 1930s serious economic depression stalked the world. In an
effort to solve the depression, nations installed strong leaders who
promised corrective measures at any cost. The cost in Germany and Italy
was dictatorial, nationalistic government. Japan already had a
militaristic government carried over from her conquests of Manchuria and
China. Britain's Winston Churchill described Hitler's rise to power
thus:
"Into that
void strode a maniac of ferocious genius, the expression of the most
virulent hatred that has ever corroded the human breast ... Corporal
Hitler."
Of all the
people on earth, Hitler believed the Jews were the worst (although
Slavics came close) - and should be exterminated from this planet. On
January 30th, 1933, Hitler was named chancellor of Germany. Dr. Joseph
Goebbels was named Minister of Propaganda. "Like a servant of God,"
Goebbels wrote in his diary, "Hitler fulfills the task which was given
to him and he does justice in its brightest and best sense to his
historical mission." In his newspaper, Der Angriff, he wrote: "What
diligence and knowledge and school learning cannot solve, God announces
through the mouths of those whom He has chosen. Genius in all fields of
human endeavor means - to have been called. When Hitler speaks all
resistance breaks down before the magical effect of his words." It was
true that when Hitler spoke, many Germans became transfixed under his
hypnotic spell.
By 1936,
Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland to see what Britain and France
would do about it. Britain and France were preoccupied with Mussolini's
aggression in Ethiopia. France's 100 divisions could have destroyed
Hitler's feeble forces but France did nothing.
Hitler's
next act was to take over Austria through intimidation. This added 7
million to the Third Reich and put it in a very good strategic position
in Europe.
Hitler's
next goal was to take over half of Czechoslovakia. His excuse was that
he wished to liberate the three and a quarter million Germans who lived
in Sudetenland. Czechoslovakia began mobilizing for war. Hitler feared
that England and France might side with Czechoslovakia and begin a
general war. The Czechs defiance put Hitler into a rage. "How dare they
accuse Germany of being about to commit aggression." The French and
British, however, wanted peace at any price. They sent Edouard Daladier
and Nevill Chamberlain to meet the German dictator and offer a deal -
they would allow Hitler to take half of Czechoslovakia. Hitler's
response? "I have fallen from Heaven". Sound familiar? Hitler, of
course, took all of Czechoslovakia.
But France
and Britain and Russia were at last alerted. To remove the threat of
Russia, Hitler secretly offered her half of Poland. The offer was too
good to ignore. Russia and Germany signed a nonaggression pact on
August 23rd, 1939. Hitler was troubled by reports England and France
might go to war if he attacked Poland. On the 26th, the following was
reported:
"Hitler
suddenly got up and, becoming very excited and nervous, walked up and
down saying, as though to himself, that Germany was irresistible.
Suddenly he stopped in the middle of the room and stood staring. His
voice was blurred and his behavior that of a completely abnormal
person. If there should be war, then I shall build U-boats, build
U-boats, U-boats, U-boats."
Five days
later Germany attacked Poland. Hitler's orders to his troops: "Close
your eyes to pity. Act brutally!" Germany's armored vehicles made
quick work of Poland's horse cavalry. Britain and France declared war
on Germany the same day, September 1st. On the 17th Russia attacked
Poland from the east.
Germany
invaded Denmark, Norway, and The Netherlands next. By May 14th, 1940,
they had taken Belgium and were attacking France. It took them six days
to cross France and reach the channel. 400,000 British, French and
Belgian troops were surrounded on the coast at Dunkirk. At this point
in history, Hitler issued one of his strangest orders: "Dunkirk is to
be left to the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force)." Then another strange
incident occurred - a suffocating fog closed in. The English channel
became calm. Every civilian boat in the area was ordered to Dunkirk.
Over 340,000 were evacuated from May 26th until June 4th. This
evacuation has been named the "Miracle of Dunkirk". In Churchill's
words "a Guiding Hand interfered to make sure the Allied forces were not
annihilated at Dunkirk."
On June
14th, France surrendered to Germany. Britain was all alone and didn't
have long to wait. On July 10th, Germany began bombing British
airfields, aircraft factories and radar stations. From July until
September 7th, Germany continued this attack. Then on September 7th,
Germany switched targets to British cities. This change came just in
the nick of time because the British Fighter Command had been severely
damaged and could not continue much longer. The British felt they could
sacrifice cities if they could remain in control of their skies.
Germany needed to destroy the British Air Force because it alone could
destroy the planned German sea invasion. By October 12th, Hitler
realized he could not destroy the British Air Force and cancelled the
sea invasion until the following spring. He later postponed the
invasion again until he could destroy Russia. Another interference from
the Guiding Hand.
The
British needed military supplies from the U.S. in a desperate way so the
U.S. sent its convoys to Britain under U.S. military escort. Many of
these convoys were decimated by German submarines. In May 1941, the
Germans sent their biggest and newest battleship, the Bismarck, into the
Atlantic to attack Allied shipping. The British navy pulled out all the
stops to find and sink her. But the Bismarck was in such a hurry to
slip into the Atlantic that she failed to top off her fuel tanks in
Norway and so, when the British caught up with her, she had to return to
France for more fuel. Nearly the entire British Atlantic fleet was
after her. The British had to attack her by air because the Bismarck's
guns had longer range than the British. About 400 miles off France, one
plane managed to hit the Bismarck's rudder with a torpedo. The
Bismarck's fate was doomed. Regarding the Bismarck, the British
commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir John Tovey commented:
"One
is very diffident about these things, but for a long time I have been a
great believer in prayer. In the last few weeks I have prayed as I have
never prayed before in my life. If anyone had said that we could meet
the Bismarck, that great ship with her main armament of 9 inch and 15
inch guns unimpaired, and come out of the action without loss of a
single British life, no one would have believed him. It is incredible.
It can only be attributed to one thing. I firmly believe that the
result of this action was due to Divine Guidance and Intervention."
Hitler had
hoped to knock Russia out of the war before America joined her European
Allies. But Japan spoiled that when she attacked Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941. Now the mighty U.S. would immediately gear up for
all-out war production. At that time America was self-sufficient and
did not depend upon other countries for oil or steel or electronics or
shipbuilding or very much of anything. America's industrial strength
was unsurpassed in the world. The words “Made in USA”, found on nearly
everything, indicated quality. America's president, President Roosevelt,
and Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, were the two great
leaders the free world needed at that time.
One of
Germany's major goals was the middle east oil fields. To capture them
Field Marshall Rommel, one of the most brilliant of all World War II
generals, was about to attack Alexandria Egypt. In mid-August 1942, Lt.
Gen. Bernard Montgomery was put in charge of the British Eighth Army in
Egypt. What kind of a man was "Monty"? He was known as the "Spartan
General". He neither smoked nor drank, and he didn't swear. He rose at
6 AM and went to bed at 9 PM. He had a fanatical belief in physical
fitness. Monty's recipe for physical fitness was that each man should
run a long course before breakfast (regardless of the weather) and read
the Bible daily. At the Battle of El Alamein, the British Eighth Army
decisively defeated Rommel and sent them fleeing westward.
The next
very major military operation in Europe was the landing at Normandy.
The Germans knew it was coming. They had fortified the entire Atlantic
coast from Norway to Spain. Rommel had warned Hitler that the first 24
hours of the landing would be critical for both the Allies and the
Germans. The Allies had to be stopped on the beaches. They could not
be allowed to penetrate inland. The Supreme Allied Commander was
General Eisenhower. The project was called Operation Overlord. General
Eisenhower would later describe the massive military build-up as "a
mighty engine of righteous destruction."
The
landing on June 6th, 1944 was inserted in a lull of an Atlantic storm
that had been plaguing the French coast. As a result of the storm many
top German generals were away from their commands, believing that the
weather would prevent a landing. Rommel himself was visiting his wife
in Germany whose birthday turned out to be on June 6th. Operation
Overlord achieved a complete surprise. A few hours after the landing,
President Roosevelt included the following in a statement to the
American public:
"Almighty
God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set out upon a mighty
endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our
civilization and to set free a suffering humanity....."
King
George VI told the peoples of Britain:
"Four
years ago our nation and Empire stood alone against an overwhelming
enemy, with our backs to the wall. Tested as never before in our
history, in God's providence we survived that test; the spirit of the
people, resolute, dedicated, burned like a bright flame, lit surely from
those Unseen Fires which nothing can quench.
Now once
more a supreme test has to be faced. This time the challenge is not to
fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good
cause....
That we
may be worthily matched with this new summons of destiny, I desire
solemnly to call my people to prayer and dedication.
We are not
unmindful of our own shortcomings, past and present. We shall ask not
that God may do our will, but that we may be enabled to do the will of
God; and we dare to believe that God has used our nation and Empire as
an instrument for fulfilling His high purpose."
Germany
surrendered a year later.
Let me now
turn to the war in the Pacific. As I mentioned earlier, Japan attacked
the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. They followed up
the attack with invasions of the Philippines, Guam, and Wake. Half of
America's Pacific fleet was destroyed or severely damaged in the
surprise attack. 347 of the 394 planes on Oahu were destroyed. 2403
lives were lost and 1178 were injured. Singapore and the Philippines
were soon occupied by the Japanese.
But there
was good news too. On June 4th, 1942, the Japanese attempt to occupy
Midway Island, at the western end of the 1000 mile Hawaiian Island
group, was thwarted. Japan lost four aircraft carriers in the attempt.
The action left Japan short of aircraft carriers and, more importantly,
their best air crews.
In August
1942, the U.S. landed forces on Guadalcanal to stem the expansion of
Japanese forces toward Australia. Thereafter began the island hopping
campaign toward Japan's home islands. As the U.S. captured island after
island, its ability to begin bombing Japan's factories and cities
increased. American submarines decimated Japanese merchant ships
bringing raw materials to Japan for the war effort.
In October
of 1943 General MacArthur returned to the Philippines. As soon as the
landing was made, the Japanese navy made an all-out attempt to destroy
the landing by sea power. They sent nearly every ship they had to the
landing area. In the process they decoyed the U.S. Third Fleet north
and away from the landings. The Japanese were nearly within gun range
of the beaches, when, for some unknown reason, they turned and ran.
When the battle ended, Japan had lost four carriers, three battleships,
nine destroyers, and ten cruisers. America's Admiral Sprague later
summed up that decisive battle as follows:
"The
failure of the enemy main body and encircling light forces to completely
wipe out all vessels of this Task Unit can be attributed to our
successful smoke screen, our torpedo counterattack, continuous
harassment of the enemy by bomb, torpedo and strafing air attacks,
timely maneuvers, and the definite partiality of Almighty God."
Prime
Minister Churchill had made a similar statement in 1942 when he said:
"I
have a feeling sometimes that some Guiding Hand has interfered. I have
a feeling that we have a Guardian because we have a great Cause, and we
shall have that Guardian so long as we serve that Cause faithfully.
And what a Cause it is."
Shortly
after the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship Missouri, General
MacArthur made the following historic broadcast to the American nation:
"Today the
guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been
won. The skies no longer rain death - the seas bear only commerce - men
everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at
peace. The holy mission has been completed. And in reporting this to
you, the people, I speak for the thousands of silent lips forever
stilled among the jungles and the beaches and in the deep waters of the
Pacific which marked the way. I speak for the unnamed brave millions
homeward bound to take up the challenge of that future which they did so
much to salvage from the brink of disaster.
As I look
back on the long, tortuous trail from those grim days of Bataan and
Corregidor, when an entire world lived in fear, when democracy was on
the defensive everywhere, when modern civilization trembled in the
balance, I thank a merciful God that He has given us the faith, the
courage and the power from which to mold victory. We have known the
bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and
from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go
forward to preserve in peace what we won in war.
A new era
is upon us. Even the lesson of victory itself brings with it profound
concern, both for our future security and the survival of civilization.
The destructiveness of war potential, through progressive advances in
scientific discovery, has in fact now reached a point which revises the
traditional concept of war.
Men since
the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the
ages have attempted to devise an international process to prevent or
settle disputes between nations. From the very start, workable methods
were found insofar as individual citizens were concerned, but the
mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never
been successful.
Military
alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn failed,
leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. We have
had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more
equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically
is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of
human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances
in science, art, literature and all material and cultural developments
of the past two thousand years. It must be of the spirit if we are
to save the flesh.
We stand
in Tokyo today reminiscent of our countryman, Commander Perry,
ninety-two years ago. His purpose was to bring to Japan an era of
enlightenment and progress, by lifting the veil of isolation to the
friendship, trade, and commerce of the world. But alas the knowledge
thereby gained of Western science was forged into an instrument of
oppression and human enslavement.
Freedom of
expression, freedom of action, even freedom of thought were denied
through appeal to superstition, and through the application of
force. We are committed by the Potsdam Declaration of principles to see
that the Japanese people are liberated from this condition of slavery.
It is my purpose to implement this commitment just as rapidly as the
armed forces are demobilized and other essential steps taken to
neutralize the war potential.
The energy
of the Japanese race, if properly directed, will enable expansion
vertically rather than horizontally. If the talents of the race are
turned into constructive channels, the country can lift itself from its
present deplorable state into a position of dignity.
To the
Pacific basin has come the vista of a new emancipated world. Today,
freedom is on the offensive, democracy is on the march.
Today, in Asia as well as in Europe, unshackled peoples are tasting the
full sweetness of liberty, the relief from fear.
In the
Philippines, America has evolved a model for the new free world of
Asia. In the Philippines, America has demonstrated that peoples of the
East and peoples of the West may walk side by side in mutual respect and
with mutual benefit. The history of our sovereignty there has now the
full confidence of the East.
And so, my
fellow countrymen, today I report to you that your sons and daughters
have served you well and faithfully with the calm, deliberate,
determined fighting spirit of the American soldier and sailor, based
upon a tradition of historical truth as against the fanaticism of
an enemy supported only by mythological fiction. Their
spiritual strength and power had brought us through to victory.
They are homeward bound - take care of them."
Following
World War II came other wars. Korea and Vietnam were the major ones.
The Korean war ended in a stalemate. The Vietnam war in defeat. But
the loss of these wars was not the direct result of defeat of the
American fighting man. They were the result of indecision by America's
leaders. "Once war is forced upon us," said General MacArthur, "there
is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it
to a swift end. War's very object is victory - not prolonged
indecision. In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for
victory." But, alas, it was General MacArthur's all-out victory
approach to the Korean War which caused him to be relieved of his
command in the Pacific. General MacArthur and General Lee were probably
the best generals America has ever had but both ended their careers
having their principles criticized and just fading away without being
able to teach the reasons for their successes to others.
Indecision
with no victory has been the hallmark of the U.S. military policy since
World War II. Korea was followed by the Cuban missile crises where we
left the Cuban freedom fighters on the beach to die after promising them
air cover. Then we made an agreement with Russia not to ever invade
Cuba if they would just take out their missiles.
The
Vietnam war actually started in 1950 while the U.S. was involved in
Korea. Here again, MacArthur's admonition that there is no substitute
for victory was ignored by President Johnson and his military advisors.
It is my belief that President Truman, President Kennedy and President
Johnson lacked the faith to face Russia nose to nose and so backed down
to a no-win position. The protracted Vietnam war, however, resulted in
public resentment against the government and the individual GI.
Distrust of government is still with us. MacArthur said that one would
have to be insane to become involved in a land war in Asia, but even if
it were unavoidable, and it wasn't, we should have pursued victory, not
indecision and compromise and ultimate defeat - the first war the U.S.
ever lost. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Arthur Goldberg stated in
February 1967: "We are not engaged in a 'holy war' against
Communism." The next month he added: "We're ready for unconditional
negotiations!" These leaders, lacking faith in God, sold out our
soldiers.
General
Curtis LeMay, who led the bombing of Japan and later headed the
Strategic Air Command, said:
"The
popular philosophy that we can, by cautious and timid
military tactics, keep the war from escalating into a larger conflict is
the ultimate in military blindness. The only way to win a war is
to escalate it in one way or another above what the enemy can take. If
we feel that we can't win without unacceptable risk, we have no
business fighting in the first place ... Thus, whenever we commit
our young men to mortal combat, we should be equally prepared to commit
our leaders, our cities, our families and civilians - our own or the
enemy's. Modern war is that serious, and we should not forget it."
One bright
spot in this dark story of indecision without victory occurred in 1975
off the coast of Cambodia. The Communists in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
were looking for excuses to further humiliate the U.S. giant. On May
12, the Cambodians fired on the container ship Mayaguez, boarded her and
forced it into the port of Sihanoukville. President Ford called this
seizure "an act of piracy." Diplomatic initiatives produced no results.
President Ford ordered the Marines to retake the ship and crew.
Punitive air strikes were carried out on military targets and an oil
depot while Marines captured a strategic island. The Cambodians
released the ship and crew with the statement, "our weak country cannot
have a confrontation with the U.S.." What did the rescue operation
accomplish other than the recovery of the ship and its 39 man crew? An
editorial entitled "The Eagle Still Has Claws" in the Toronto Star gives
us the answer: "The free-world alliance will be greatly reassured and
heartened that its leading power ... still has the will and capacity to
act decisively against unprovoked aggression."
The Gulf
War of the 1990s is only the latest evidence of the policy of indecision
without victory. Yes, we destroyed the invading armies of Iraq, but our
military and civilian leaders in Washington chose not to pursue complete
victory. Each time we choose indecision over victory, we only postpone
the inevitable. Like Hitler's unchallenged invasion of the Rhineland in
1936, when the U.S. is too busy to police these unfinished wars, the
enemy will conclude his treachery.
We have
now lost about 38 hundred men and women in the Iraqi war since that war
began in March 2003. While any losses are regrettable, those losses do
not compare with World War II losses. For example, on Iwo Jima, in less
than a month of fighting, the U.S. lost over 6800 men. But the real
threat to winning the war in Iraq is the politicalization of the war by
the liberal news media and government officials. They are the same
groups who criticized the Viet Nam war to the extent that the U.S.
public ceased to support it.
So where
are we today? Our government has allowed our nuclear weapon technology
to be released to our enemies. We have released our strategic and
commercial choke-point, the Panama Canal, to Red Chinese control, an
avowed enemy. We seem to be under the curse of Deut 28:52 instead of the
blessings of Gen 22:17. Let’s read these two verses.
Deut 28:52
(NKJV) "They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and
fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land;
and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land
which the LORD your God has given you.
Gen
22:16-17 [NKJV] . . . . ."By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because
you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son;
[17] "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your
descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the
seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
North
Korea threatens South Korea, Guam and Japan. Chinese generals now
threaten Los Angeles and will soon have the ability to threaten at least
100 US cities from former US bases in Panama. China economically
threatens world oil supplies. Russia, Islamic States, and China all seem
to be lining up to attack Israel (Rev 9:16). Our military has been
drastically reduced in bases and manpower, as well as morally during
some Administrations. Huge pressures are being applied to our citizens
to give up personal guns. Individual freedoms and privacy are under
constant attack by our government, even to an attempt to monitor our
bank accounts, telephone calls, medical records without court order. We
seem to be well along on the path to national captivity, possibly even
captivity by the Beast power described in the book of Revelation. The
only thing we lack is the national awareness of how close we are to
disaster. Most citizens are blinded to our dangers by apathy and desire
for more pleasure and wealth and power.
What
happened after World War II to change our government’s attitude of
successful warfare and respect for individual freedoms to one of
compromise instead of victory and shame for our military power? Have you
considered the millions of abortions, the court decisions banning
Christian prayers and Bibles from our schools, the removal of the ten
commandments from courtrooms, the drive to remove “In God We Trust” from
our currency, the drive to remove “one nation under God” from our pledge
of allegiance, the homosexual parades in our cities, gay marriage, the
celebrating of Islamic Ramadan in the White House and throughout
Washington DC, the praising and acceptance of Islam by our President -
Islam, another superstition as General MacArthur described
non-Judea-Christian religions, the government pressure on Israel to give
up God-given covenant land to the so-called “Palestinians”? Presidential
admission that he thinks our one Creator God is the god of all
religions. These are all post-World War II events. God and His laws are
being intentionally removed from our nation. We were reading from Deut
28. Let’s turn to verse 15 of Deut 28.
15 "But
it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your
God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I
command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake
you:
If you
read through the remainder of Deut 28, you will see why this country is
having the problems it is having. The last verses of Deut 28 describe
the final days of a nation that does not repent and turn around and
respect God’s laws.
But there
may be more to the decline of the U.S. than its national sins. God
determines the course of nations. God determines their life and
destiny, yes, even the U.S. and yes, even the present day country of
Israel. How often have you asked yourself, “Why has God blessed the
little country of Israel when most of its people are secular, reject
Jesus (Yeshua) as their Messiah, and do not even obey God’s
commandments? Most seem proud that they are Jews but leave God almost
completely out of their lives.” The answer is that God is working out
His purpose because He knows the end from the beginning. He knows the
end of proud, prosperous, God-rejecting nations. We can know it too if
we’ll just consider what happened to the Roman Empire. Perhaps we can
get a glimmer of understanding of this from Romans 9:6. I am going to
read this from the Jewish New Testament.
Romans
9:6-8 (JNT) But the present condition of Israel does not mean that the
Word of God has failed. For not everyone from Israel is truly part of
Israel; {7} indeed, not all of the descendants are seed of Abraham;
rather , “What is to be called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitzchak (Isaac).”
{8} In other words, it is not the physical children who are children of
God, but the children the promise refers to who are considered seed.
Verses 11
and 12 goes on to say, “so that God’s plan might remain a matter of His
sovereign choice, not dependent on what they did, but on God, who does
the calling.”