Honoring the Fallen on Memorial Day

My brother, Glenn Howard Rickleson, was killed in 1951. He was a fighter pilot. He flew in Korea and he gave his life for our country. Corporal Benjamin Keith Rauschenberger is 25 years old, was killed April 15, 2013. He was four and a half years in the Marines.

We love you and miss you and we can't wait to see you in heaven. Bruno and Uncle Mikey went MIA. Bruno came back in a body bag and Uncle Mikey was never found. They gave their lives for this country. I just want to honor my daddy that was killed in France December the 3rd, 1944.

I still remember him and think about him. His name was Crandall Pearson. Welcome to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller and today a special Memorial Day edition of the program to pay tribute to and remember those who have not only served in our military but who gave their lives so you and I could enjoy the freedom that we have today in America. Courageous men and women of honor. Brave and trustworthy men like Milburn Manning.

Well it was December 7, 1941 and my Uncle Milburn Manning was stationed at the Kaneohe Naval Air Station near Pearl Harbor and when the attack started he jumped into a sandbag bunker and grabbed hold of a 50 caliber machine gun and began fighting back and as fate would have it he was nearly cut in two with machine gun fire from the enemy aircraft and then he died as a result of those wounds. So here on Memorial Day I really want to honor my Uncle Milburn. You got to hand it to these guys.

They just gave it all and so many of them. That's just one of the stories we have for you today on Focus on the Family. John, every Memorial Day is a good opportunity to pause and reflect on our country's great heritage and remember those who've made the ultimate sacrifice. A few years ago we asked people to call us and record stories about their family members and friends who've served our country and given their lives. Right and we received hundreds of calls each one very heartfelt and special remembering loved ones and we're gonna hear those stories and then near the end of the show we're gonna hear from a World War II veteran 101 years old as he remembers fallen comrades he served with. Unfortunately some military families don't know the details of how their family member died until months or years down the road when they might get an unexpected phone call.

Here's Alan Folsom who had to make one of those calls. I served in Iraq in 2006 as a medic for the Air Force and one night we received a bunch of choppers from an IED explosion that had taken out a Bradley vehicle and there were several wounded Marines on board and we were working feverishly on one young man who was about 19-20. He unfortunately was dying and there was no need to continue life-saving measures. I felt compelled as a Christian for some reason God was telling me take this kid's hand and pray with him and I knelt beside him and I took his hand as he laid on the gurney and I squeezed his hand I felt a response and I just prayed with him I said you're gonna go into the presence of God and I just want to pray with you God loves you Jesus died for you and he's ready to take you home and he squeezed back a response and he passed away but I was so struck by the peace on his face and it was as if God was telling me this is why I have you here and I took that and I and I didn't do a lot with it for a lot of months and I came home and at that point I looked up this kid on the internet did a little research I called his mom his dad and I left a message and I said would it be okay if I spoke with you I was probably the last person to see your son alive they called me back and I spoke with his mother and I told her exactly what I just told you and she broke down and she started crying on the phone to me and I apologized I said I'm sorry for making you feel so bad I just thought you wanted to know and she said oh no no no you haven't made me feel bad she said when Ryan was a little boy I used to take him to the doctor and he was always so afraid and so frightened he would reach out to me and say mommy please hold my hand please hold my hand mommy and so she said knowing that you were there holding his hand as he was going into eternity is the source of great comfort and I've been in the military for 30 years and I'm getting ready to retire and I would like it to be known that there's anything that I'm to be remembered for it is for that other families may have only been notified that their family member was listed MIA missing in action then one day the government gives them news and here's Carla sharing about her brother's story he was missing in action for a little over 38 years we never had any bodies or anything and just probably about 15 years ago they did a DNA test on my mom and my brother and they were able to match an arm that was washed up on shore in Okinawa where the government had released over their bones of missing Marines so we was able to bury him well the bone and then just recently this year a hip was found it finally came to a closure with my brother I have to bury in his hip bone and his arm about 15 years ago this story is about John Kenneth Day Ken Day is the deceased relative of dear friends of ours he was killed on October 5th 1944 defending the United States as a member of the 506 parachute infantry regiment outside of a thousand Holland he single-handedly engaged several German tanks using a bazooka in an attempt to take out the tanks which had his unit pinned down he selflessly charged the tanks with a loaded round and fired at the tank the round was displaced bouncing off of the tank realizing the situation and realizing that now the tank had turned its turret away from his comrades he charged for cover only to receive direct fire from the tank killing him instantly his family was unaware of the manner in which he died for over 65 years until research and friendship and the internet allowed us to find a survivor of his unit who sat down with John Kenneth Day's brother to recount the manner in which his brother had died it was a tearful moment in a moment of closure and I'm so glad that we have people such as that that would lay down their life to honor their family and our country on December 10th 2006 my husband and I received the phone call no parent wants to receive my daughter-in-law called to tell us that our youngest son sergeant Brennan Gibson was killed in action when an IED detonated near the Humvee he was riding in while on patrol in Baghdad Iraq he was 26 he was laid to rest on December 27th what would have been his 27th birthday and not a day goes by that I don't think about him and miss him along with his beautiful smile and his infectious laughter my husband and I never would have thought he would be the kid that ended up jumping out of airplanes or joining the military I believe every soldier has a story and I thank God for the time we've had with him on earth thank you for letting me share a little bit about our hero Sergeant Brennan Gibson what remarkable courage to stare death in the face like that and just think of how many families never find out what happened to their loved one here's another touching and courageous story from Janice who lost her son Jesse in Afghanistan my son was captain Jesse Melton the third United States Marine Corps he served in Marine Corps for 11 years and Jesse was killed in Afghanistan on September the 9th 2008 but Jesse learned from an early age from the Word of God that a good leader should make it his or her goal to lead by serving Jesse truly lived out Michael 68 which says he is showing you old man what is good what does the Lord require of you to act justly and to love mercy and to walk calmly with you God Jesse applied this truth while leading his men he was always concerned about the Marines that was signed his team Jesse wanted to know that they were appreciating that he really cared he would tell me I do not have to yell and scream at the Marines in order to get them to work for me I am firm but there people will work for you if you lead by example and show them that you really care he said that he wants the Marines to follow him out of admiration and not out of obligation I believe that Jesse left the fresh fragrance wherever he went just like the fresh fragrance after gentle rain he later told me that he wanted to make a difference to do something extraordinary that people would not forget and that will glorify our God when we went to the ceremony at Arlington one of the gentlemen they had told my daughter earlier that Jesse had switched out with someone else and then the gentleman who was there overheard my daughter telling another Marine she said I heard my brother was killed and placed with another Marine and that he took his place and the guy said to her who told you that and she said another Marine and he broke down and started crying and said I'm that man I'm so sorry I am so sorry please so I told him I said you look this was not your fault God allowed it and so I'm not blaming you because God could have stopped it and Jesse had told me you know it before going over he said mom I'm not married I don't have any children he said I would rather sacrifice my life for someone who was married he also told me he said I had a dream that I'm going to be either wounded or killed he said but I'm still going he said I want to make a difference but to believe he just kept on saying how sorry he was but later on you know his wife was there I met his wife so I was delighted to see her and the child and every year that September rolls around I thank God because that child is you know her for daddy what a powerful story of bravery and courage a man that thought it through and said I'm single this other man has a family and there's no greater show of courage than that to say I want that man to come home alive because he has something big to live for truly that really fulfills my heart for what we do here at focus the family matters it speaks to me he knew even as a young man that what he was doing there potentially giving up his life for a husband and a father and I want to be able to walk into work every day thinking like that and that's the kind of sacrifice that we're honoring today on Memorial Day well certainly our thanks to Janice and to all who called and shared with us these incredible stories and for follow-up you might get the CD or download and share it with your children or family members and we've got the details in the show notes as part of our Memorial Day special today we also heard from family members who lost loved ones during the Vietnam War back then I was just a young boy as young men 10 12 15 years older than me we're headed off to war young men like Patrick Murphy I met Patrick Murphy when I was a freshman in college and he and I became really good friends we shared a common major social science but I could see that he was troubled in some way and this was in the height of the Vietnam War era as we became closer he told me about his hesitation about being in school when others were giving up their lives and their dreams to go to Vietnam to fight for our country even though it was not a popular war I was not surprised then during our sophomore year when he said to me during the class that he had signed up and that he would be leaving school soon so he could go and fight overseas it was about a year later that we got word that Patrick had given up his life for the cause and I don't know why that has stayed with me all this time he was the only person I knew as a friend as a loved one who had died in Vietnam but all this time later whenever I visit our nation's capital I always make a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial I'm calling on behalf of two of my friends that I went to high school with that were killed in the Vietnam War Doug harp u.s. marine killed in 1965 captain Tom Reeser Airport pilot flew b-52s killed over Cambodia I think it was 1971 I was blessed in 1961 have played on a football team that was ranked in some polls number one in the country number two in the country Doug and Tom were both all state all Americans it could have had better people still got the pain in my heart for anyway this goes out for them I would like to pay tribute to my uncle Bernard props and he died in Cambodia in about 1970 one of my earliest childhood memories is of his funeral he was a Green Beret so they carried his casket to the cemetery it was the first time I saw my father cry and what I always remember when I hear taps being played I remember that sound and it has been forever put into my memory John I've been able to go to Arlington Cemetery and it has happened more than once that off in the distance where someone is being buried that there's a flag gently waving in that breeze and man it is a gentle reminder from God that in the midst of loss and pain he's still with us in fact the lyrics to that song taps as it played even there at Arlington ends with the words God is nigh what a comforting reminder for soldier because when one man dies so another can be free it's a vivid example of what Christ did for each one of us and those in the Armed Forces are human beings just like you and me yet they've been given a super difficult assignment full of danger and risk military families have a very special bond between them they know what it means to give it all to sacrifice everything and it's still too often death takes them by surprise I'm sure nobody thinks it'll happen to me and what a sobering thought we were stationed in Camp Compton and my husband had already done his first deployment to Iraq in the initial invasion in 2003 and we got some new neighbors in our cul-de-sac and one of them being rent and Amy morale none of us had kids at that point we all had dogs the dogs are what brought us together every morning and every evening we would bring our dogs out into the backyard and let them loose and they would all go run and play together and the one thing I would always remember about Brent morale is that he would come out every morning and kiss his wife goodbye before he went to work every morning and the other guys did that only went in that he was a big guy he was a no joke marine he was in recon and so that meant he was tougher than even the rest of infantry guys he was muscles and he was big and had red hair and blue eyes but a great smile well when Brent was about to deploy we all went to their house have a barbecue and and something about it was he went to go open up the grill to make burgers for all of us and a mouse jumped out of the grill and I never saw a man scream like a girl dancing around like I did Brent morale that was the funniest thing I think I ever saw six foot four guy being reduced to a two foot little pansy it was hilarious anyway Brent was a great guy he went off for his deployment and I forget the day that when I stepped outside the door that I saw the chaplain's car and the guy in his uniform at Amy's house I'll never forget that day and I fell down to my knees and it just stopped because the only time I see a guy in a uniform come to the door with the chaplain is when somebody's died we found out later that he received the Navy Cross as a result of him trying to take care of his men he died for self-sacrifice he's a great marine I'm being a military wife and having my husband go through many combat tours I've I've known a lot of good men that young and I one thing I think that people don't realize is that when you support your troops doesn't mean you support war it means that you support the troops and these men will do anything they sacrifice their own lives for your freedom from my freedom and they sacrifice their lives their brothers and Everett sharing her thoughts about the late Brent morale and so powerfully telling us why it's important to remember the sacrifice that Brent and thousands of others have made you know John it's hard for us to think about death it makes us uncomfortable but it's something we all must face I hope these stories have caused you to see life differently and to respect those who've given so much for us and our country here at the end I want to honor one of our veterans who made it back home from World War two gyneth Hudson is a hundred and one years old he had just learned to drive before the draft so he was moved from machine gun duty to the motor pool in the Philippines he recalls the losses and the sadness of war and his Christian faith well that carried him through a teenager when I accepted Jesus as my savior and I attended church faithfully I didn't want to go to war I didn't like war but I knew that the only way to stop the enemy was overpower them and fortunately I didn't have to do much of the actual frontline combat but I worked behind the lines but it was hard to take it when you pick up the dead and carry them to the cemetery knowing that they would never get to go home again even the wounded you and I carry sometimes one across the hood one behind me on stretchers to get them to the hospital or or take them to the cemetery more terrible after I was put in the motor pool the squad leader and the boy that took my place in the squad were both killed but they had set up their camp and the Japanese had cannons in caves and they roll those cannons out and fire into the troops and so a lot of the boys were killed during that type of and the one that was the squad leader and the one that replaced me with both kill hey the boy was hit in the middle of the back with a artillery shell but where I was I could hear that happening but what do you think I can do about it shortly before the war was over Japan surrendered I was wounded by a grenade attack upon our position.

I was in the hospital I think about a week and in 1960 something I got a piece of shrapnel out of my left shin and other parts of my body since then just last year or two got some out of my arm that little look like little flat pieces of metal about the size of a dime. Private Hudson's Christian faith played an important role during his time in the Philippines. I carried the New Testament and of course I had my other Bible total Bible and anytime where I had the opportunity to do so I would I wondered if I would be useful but I wasn't called into ministry until after I was married. Psalm 23 I learned that one I was able to quote it and so if I didn't have a Bible in my hands I had had that. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green patches. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. Yeas I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for it art with me.

He prepares the table before me at the presence of my animation. He anointed my head with soil. My cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Geinath Hudson what an amazing man. He and his brother both made it home from the war while so many others did not. He went on to serve as a pastor for more than 50 years and we want to honor him today and the memory of those he served with in the greatest generation. I hope this program has encouraged you the next time you see someone in uniform thank them for their service.

I often like to pay for their coffee if we're in line together. Find some way to say thanks for what they do for us and may I express from all of us here at Focus on the Family our heartfelt gratitude for all who have sacrificed for us and for the freedoms we enjoy. Well thanks for listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller inviting you back tomorrow as we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.

of you. As a pastor you and your spouse need to be refreshed and encouraged and that's why Focus on the Family presents the Focused Pastor Couples Conference. Join us as we hear from Paul David Tripp, Dr. Greg Smalley, Ted Cunningham and more. Mark your calendar to join us on October 28th through 30th right here at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. Visit thefocusedpastor.com slash refresh for more details.