Recognizing Those Who Defend Us

As Memorial Day approaches I want to share a recent experience. On Monday, May 4, Peggy and I went to Clarksville, Tennessee, about fifty miles northwest of Nashville to meet Stephanie Butler Shorey and her family. Stephanie grew up in our church and is a friend of our daughter, Jennifer. Stephanie is married to Lt. Col. Alan Shorey of the U. S. Army, 101st Airborne Division, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on the edge of Clarksville.

I performed the marriage ceremony for Al and Stephanie thirteen years ago, when he was a young officer recently graduated from West Point. Stephanie graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in landscaping. He grew up in Maine. They have two boys, Charlie, eleven, and Alan Patrick, a few years younger. They have lived in five places, including Japan, in thirteen years. Al has served three tours of duty in Iraq and has three times been in vehicles struck by roadside bombs. When he returned last fall he was promoted to Lt. Col., and on May 4, he became commanding officer of the 326th Engineer Battalion, the unit in which he began at Fort Campbell.

The 326th has two of its companies, about 200 troops, in Iraq at present and another company preparing to go back soon. It is also likely that Al and his battalion will be deployed to Afghanistan at some point. As engineers they build roads, bridges, airfields, buildings, and whatever else is needed. They also clear the roads of IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

The occasion for our trip was the change of command ceremony at which Al took command of the battalion. Stephanie led us, along with Al’s parents and his brothers, onto the post, and we gathered at ten in the morning on the Division Parade Ground. The invocation was led by the battalion chaplain, a Baptist, who attended Golden Gate Seminary. The troops stood in formation, an army band played, the parade passed in review, and the colors were passed from the outgoing commander to the incoming one. The history of the battalion was read, including D-day at Normandy and the years in Vietnam, and a colonel from Fort Bragg, who is over the engineers, made a speech as did the outgoing battalion commander. Al spoke briefly to point the way forward.

It was an impressive ceremony, especially when the American flag was saluted. At that point I realized that most of these troops had served in Iraq, many more than once, and would do so again. Some of their comrades died there, or came home wounded. The two absent companies were represented by small contingents that stayed behind at the home headquarters. Instead of company colors, their flag bearers carried bare staffs topped with simple camouflage sheaths. Their banners are on the battlefield. Al told me before the ceremony that it is hard to rest easy when two hundred of your people are in harms way and you may get a call at any time saying someone has been killed.

Stephanie was introduced at the ceremony as part of the leadership team. The army expects the commander’s wife to work for the good of the battalion by helping to support and counsel the families. They sent her to Fort Leonard Wood for a week of training to prepare for her new duties. She received a bouquet of roses at the ceremony and Charlie and Alan Patrick were given 101st Airborne coins with their names engraved on the back.

As a civilian, I have never been much exposed to the military. I was impressed. The officers I met were sharp, polite, well-educated, and highly-trained. I had a new understanding of where our defense dollars go. I was glad to know these people are there when we need them. As a Christian, I wish we did not have to go to war, and I don’t always agree with the military actions of our politicians. But I have great respect for the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who defend us. I will pray for them with renewed insight and intent. Two young men who grew up in our church and have parents there aree going to Afghanistan with the Army and the Marine Corps. May God keep them safe and return them to us. And may all of us seek peace, work for peace, and pray for peace.