We will never forget

"BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD"

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat

The soldier's last tattoo;

No more on life's parade shall meet

That brave and fallen few.

On Fame's eternal camping-ground

Their silent tents are spread,

And Glory guards, with solemn round,

The bivouac of the dead.

Although stanzas from Theodore O’Hara’s lamenting poem, “Bivouac of the Dead,” are inscribed on iron tablets found throughout some of the oldest units of our country’s national cemeteries, there is little public recognition of this poet-soldier and his long-lived literary contribution to the memorialization of fallen troops.

O’Hara’s military service bridged the period from the Mexican War, whose action inspired the poem, to the Civil War, which led him to places where some of the first cemeteries were created.

“Bivouac of the dead” has captivated the attention of a patriotic nation and continues to do so today.

Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs (1816-92) recognized its solemn appeal and directed that lines from “Bivouac” grace the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.

On this Memorial Day as a thankful nation observe the sacrifice of the lives for our freedoms. Over the now 250-year history of this great experiment the words in The Declaration of Independence, which will soon celebrate as a nation, state clearly that-

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

More lives will undoubtedly be offered in the years to come to continue to secure these unalienable Rights our Creator endowed to us all. Our responsibility as Christians and citizens as I shared in a previous blog requires our focus and our dedication to both our faith and to our republic.

When we commit “We will never forget” and it provides us reflection to those who have gone before us to secure our freedom as a nation.

However, “We will never forget” also are important words as Christians in our daily lives and our actions toward others.

John 15:13 tells us that-

No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 

In this part of the 15th chapter of John Jesus is saying that there is a means to perfect love and joy.

John 15:9-17 (NKJV)

There are 3 things we can take from these verses

1)   We are to remain in Jesus love in verses 9-11

9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 

10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

2)   We are to obey Jesus commands in verses 12-14

12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 

14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

3)   We are to love one another in verses 15-17

15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 

17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

So, as you prepare now to spend this Memorial Day, I hope you will pause to show respect for and adoration to those who have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day.

In God's Grace,

Elbert Nasworthy