God Bless Our Fallen Soldiers

"The local church has this touching display of flags posted in their yard; one for every person in Leesburg who has died in Iraq," Lisa explained. My sister was driving by the church the other day when suddenly she saw a deranged man staggering through that field of flags. He was grabbing them, breaking the flagstaffs and throwing them on the ground. "I pulled over, slammed on my breaks and jumped out of my car," she said. "A utility worker had pulled over too and he was already dialing the police."

Lisa ran to try and distract that insensitive man. She was shouting loudly and waving her arms. "What are you doing? Stop it, what's wrong with you?" Just as she did, he turned and started towards her. He reached the utility worker first and shoved him hard in the chest. Pretty soon the two men were grappling with each other. Lisa continued to shout and did what she could to try and break up the fight. After several scary minutes, the police arrived and wrestled the crazed man to the ground. They handcuffed him and threw him into the squad car.

A woman came out of the church and they solemnly began picking up the broken flags. "Now I will have to order some new ones," the volunteer said. Each flagstaff had been engraved with the name of a fallen soldier and some were now broken in two. "It was so sad, I can't imagine what that man was thinking. He was dishonoring that memorial and every one of our soldiers," said Lisa.

As she talked my stomach began to churn as I thought about how she had put her own life in danger. "Lisa, you need to be more careful, you could have been seriously hurt or killed," I told her. But Lisa's reply was, "I don't care, I would do it all again if need be. Out of all those cars that were driving by, the only two who stopped were me and a utility worker. It's the least I could do for those who have bravely served," she said. "And if I had lost my life defending the honor of our troops, then at least it would have been worth it!"

Well said Lisa, well said...and I am proud of her. My sister's passion symbolizes what this country was built on, the pride and honor of all Americans. Thank God there are some who still believe this country and the freedom it represents is worth dying for. God Bless our fallen soldiers and their families on this special day of remembrance. Happy Memorial Day!