Psalm 20:5
"We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions."
All
people, when they go to war, have standards or banners, whether flags or some
other ensigns, around which they rally; which they follow; under which they
fight; and which they feel bound to defend.
We, too, will erect our standards; we will unfurl our flag.
Don't believe the liberals when they say or claim that the United States isn't a Christian Nation. It still is, so long as there is a remnant. All of you who are out there thinking it's over and that America has seen its last good days are dead wrong.
There's nothing stopping us from ascending back into great heights. There is a condition, though. In II Chronicles 7:14-15, the Bible says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place."
Some trust in tanks, and some in their infantry; others trust their missiles. But we will remember the name of the
Lord our God and magnify His name.
Dear Christian, are willing and able to do that? Do you have a heart for the Lord and this great Nation? With wickedness running rampant in D.C. and around State Capitol houses (especially in Olympia, Washington), this country and the 50 states need prayer. People need to pray for revival, which almost always begins with you. Don't wait for someone to catch revival or to be revived. It's you who can be the spark, the ember that gets something going in your local church.
The Battle of Iwo Jima
American air forces pounded Iwo in the longest sustained aerial offensive of
the war. "No other island received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo
Jima." -Admiral Nimitz, CINPAC.
Incredibly, this ferocious bombardment had little effect. Hardly any of the
Japanese underground fortresses were touched. Twenty-one thousand defenders of
Japanese soil, burrowed in the volcanic rock of Iwo Jima, anxiously awaited the
American invaders.
The US sent more Marines to Iwo than to any other battle, 110,000 Marines in 880
Ships. The convoy of 880 US Ships sailed from Hawaii to Iwo in 40 days.
Shortly before 2am on Feb. 19, 1945, the Navy's big guns opened up on Iwo
Jima again, signaling the beginning of D-Day. After an hour of punishment, the
fire was lifted, leaving Iwo smoking as if the entire island were on fire.
The battle was unique in its setting. One hundred thousand men fighting on a
tiny island one-third the size of Manhattan. For 36 days Iwo Jima was one of the
most populated 7.5 miles on earth.
In 36 days of fighting there were 25,851 US casualties (1 in 3 were killed or
wounded).
Of these, 6,825 American boys were killed. Virtually all 22,000 Japanese
perished.
The Battle of Iwo Jima is just one representation of the many great sacrifices our men have made in battle to secure our freedoms. Please remember our veterans and their families in your prayers today!
The Battle of Iwo Jima is just one representation of the many great sacrifices our men have made in battle to secure our freedoms. Please remember our veterans and their families in your prayers today!
Six Nice Young Boys
Each year my video production company is hired to go to Washington D.C. with the eighth grade class from Clinton, Wisconsin where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation’s capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall’s trip was especially memorable.
On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history – that of six brave men raising the American flag at the top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan during WW II. Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed toward the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, “What’s your name and where are you guys from?”
I told him that my name was Michael Powers and that we were from Clinton, Wisconsin.
“Hey, I’m a Cheesehead, too! Come gather around Cheeseheads, and I will tell you a story.”
James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, D.C. to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say goodnight to his dad, who had previously passed away, but whose image is part of the statue. He was just about to leave when saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C. but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night. When all had gathered around he reverently began to speak. Here are his words from that night:
“My name is James Bradley and I’m from Antigo Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue and I just wrote a book called “Flags of Our Fathers” which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me. Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game, a game called “war”. But it didn’t turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of twenty-one, died with his intestines in his hands. I don’t say that to gross you out; I say that because there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen years old.
(He pointed to the statue)
You see this next guy? That’s Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene’s helmet off at the moment of this photo was taken, and looked in the webbing of that helmet you would find a photograph. A photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection, because he was scared. He was eighteen years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys, not old men.
The next guy here the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the “old man” because he was so old. He was already twenty-four. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn’t say, “Let’s go kill the enemy” or “Let’s die for our country”. He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, “You do what I say, and I’ll get you home to your mothers”.
The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, “You’re a hero”. He told reporters, “How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only twenty-seven of us walked off alive?”
So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only twenty-seven of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of thirty-two, ten years after this picture was taken.
The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop Kentucky, a fun-lovin’ hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, “Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn’t get down. Then we fed them Epson salts. Those cows crapped all night.
Yes, he was a fun-lovin’ hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of nineteen. When the telegram came to tell is mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran the telegram up to his mother’s farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite’s producers, or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, “No, I’m sorry sir, my dad’s not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don’t know when he is coming back”
My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually he was sitting right there at the table eating his Campbell’s soup, but we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn’t want to talk to the press. You see, my dad didn’t see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, because they are in a photo and a monument. My dad new better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died, and when boys died on Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain.
When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, “I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.”
So that’s the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.
Suddenly the Monument wasn’t just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero in his own eyes, but a hero nonetheless.
On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history – that of six brave men raising the American flag at the top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan during WW II. Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed toward the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, “What’s your name and where are you guys from?”
I told him that my name was Michael Powers and that we were from Clinton, Wisconsin.
“Hey, I’m a Cheesehead, too! Come gather around Cheeseheads, and I will tell you a story.”
James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, D.C. to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say goodnight to his dad, who had previously passed away, but whose image is part of the statue. He was just about to leave when saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C. but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night. When all had gathered around he reverently began to speak. Here are his words from that night:
“My name is James Bradley and I’m from Antigo Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue and I just wrote a book called “Flags of Our Fathers” which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me. Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game, a game called “war”. But it didn’t turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of twenty-one, died with his intestines in his hands. I don’t say that to gross you out; I say that because there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen years old.
(He pointed to the statue)
You see this next guy? That’s Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene’s helmet off at the moment of this photo was taken, and looked in the webbing of that helmet you would find a photograph. A photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection, because he was scared. He was eighteen years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys, not old men.
The next guy here the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the “old man” because he was so old. He was already twenty-four. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn’t say, “Let’s go kill the enemy” or “Let’s die for our country”. He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, “You do what I say, and I’ll get you home to your mothers”.
The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, “You’re a hero”. He told reporters, “How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only twenty-seven of us walked off alive?”
So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only twenty-seven of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of thirty-two, ten years after this picture was taken.
The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop Kentucky, a fun-lovin’ hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, “Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn’t get down. Then we fed them Epson salts. Those cows crapped all night.
Yes, he was a fun-lovin’ hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of nineteen. When the telegram came to tell is mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran the telegram up to his mother’s farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite’s producers, or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, “No, I’m sorry sir, my dad’s not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don’t know when he is coming back”
My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually he was sitting right there at the table eating his Campbell’s soup, but we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn’t want to talk to the press. You see, my dad didn’t see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, because they are in a photo and a monument. My dad new better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died, and when boys died on Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain.
When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, “I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.”
So that’s the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.
Suddenly the Monument wasn’t just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero in his own eyes, but a hero nonetheless.
A New Constellation
Flag Day is celebrated today across the United States. Please pray for our men and women in the Armed Forces and ask for God's protection over them. Please pray for this great Nation and ask for God's mercy because we've strayed far from Him. This is still the land of milk and honey for many who are trying to get into this country. This land is a great land to live in because of the liberty still thriving here that you don't see in other nations. God bless America!
Here are five facts about the patriotic U.S. holiday that starting in 1916.
1. Flag day commemorates the implementation of the U.S. flag which took place through resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777. It is always celebrated on June 14.
2. In 1916, former President Woodrow Wilson declared that June 14 would be officially established as Flag Day.
3. Flag day isn’t an official federal holiday, but Pennsylvania has adopted it as a state holiday.
4. The sitting President must proclaim the official observance of Flag Day.
5. Fairfield, Washington, holds the title of having the oldest continuing Flag Day parade, beginning in 1910.
Here are five facts about the patriotic U.S. holiday that starting in 1916.
1. Flag day commemorates the implementation of the U.S. flag which took place through resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777. It is always celebrated on June 14.
2. In 1916, former President Woodrow Wilson declared that June 14 would be officially established as Flag Day.
3. Flag day isn’t an official federal holiday, but Pennsylvania has adopted it as a state holiday.
4. The sitting President must proclaim the official observance of Flag Day.
5. Fairfield, Washington, holds the title of having the oldest continuing Flag Day parade, beginning in 1910.
6. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and became the first states in the Union.
7. The colors of the flag are symbolic as well: Red symbolizes Hardiness and Valor,
White symbolizes Purity and Innocence and Blue represents Vigilance,
Perseverance and Justice.
8. Nicknames for the flag include the "Stars and Stripes", "Old Glory", and "The Star-Spangled Banner".
One Last Thing to Think About
There is One who loves us so much that He laid down His life so that many could live (John 3:16). Read Jeremiah 50:2 and then think about the
meaning about who Jesus Christ is. He is, to be sure, the great Captain of our salvation, having obtained a
complete victory over all enemies, and made us more than conquerors thereby, we
will set up our banners, hang out the flag, and in His name triumph over sin,
Satan, the world, death, and hell.
Think about this, Beloved -
"He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love." (Song of Solomon 2:4)
Christ's banner is draped crimson, a deep red that is pure and wholesome and holy. Behold, the Lamb's blood that takes away the sins of the world! It is yours for the asking. Here's how: I Want My Sins To Be Washed Away!
Sources: Encyclopedia Brittanica, iwojima.com, hq224usmc.com, nationalflagday.com, usflag.org, history.com, newsmax.com
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