It Was Not Just a Name, and You are More than Just a Man

A brief stop on my early Sunday morning run with Riley.

Riley and  I paused at the Vietnam Memorial to take a picture of a name,  not just a name, and not just an ordinary man.  A few days later, on May 7th, 2014, Riley along with 235 other men and women finished the Marine Corps Officer Basic School training. It was my honor to witness their graduation before they go across the world to carry on the legacy that has been loaned to all of us in America for a small time.

A strong sense of privilege, honor, and legacy, overwhelmed my wife Ruth and me during the weekend before  the graduation while in the nation's capital. Our privilege to see Congressional staffers take a break from the daily bickering Saturday night to poke fun at each other at the Capitol Steps performance. My honor to jog, with Riley, through the City before it awoke Sunday  morning as we experienced the long legacies of those great men who made our freedoms possible. These men include Madison, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, King, Lincoln, and Lee to name a few. Our jog took us down Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, to the steps of the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and to the gates of the White House. We paused at the World War II, Korea, and Vietnam memorials. 

Sunday, after church, the three of us spent the afternoon where men gave their lives during the Battle of Chancellorsville. The gifts given by each of these great servants and their families seem so under-appreciated and taken for granted. Wednesday, Riley showed us why he was interested in the name of Terrence C. Graves, the name listed at the Vietnam Memorial. Lt. Graves is a Congressional Medal of Honor winner who served and was killed in action at Vietnam on 16 February 1968. There is a dormitory at Quantico which carries the name of Graves Hall. Riley remembers.

Thank you for your willingness to serve. It is our privilege to pray regularly for each of you that the Lord:

• fill you with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 
• that you walk worthy of the Him unto all pleasing, that you be fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of Him; 
• that you are strong with all might according to His glorious power, but with all patience, steadfastness, and joyfulness; 
• that you always, no matter what happens, give thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. . .