The man who wasn't there

Editor’s note: American Legion Past National Chaplain Robert A. Vick delivered the following message of remembrance at the Patriotic Memorial Service of the 100th American Legion National Convention on Aug. 26, 2018.

When I was a boy there was a popular art form. Men and women carried different colored sheets of artist’s paper around with them and a pair of scissors. You would pose, and they would cut your profile from this colored paper. It seemed the most popular color was black.

Many of those artists were very good and at the time the pictured person would be easily recognized. Everyone who knew him would know whose profile it was. But as time passed, the person portrayed either moved on or died, and there’s no one left to identify that profile. There are millions of these profiles still in existence moldering in trunks and attics, or languishing on basement shelves in albums. And the question is asked, “Who is this person?” Generally, the answer is, “I don’t remember” or “I don’t know.”

I call this the man that wasn’t there.

Look at the average cemetery and how many gravesites have no flag or flowers of remembrance displayed. Each one represents a man who isn’t here (I use the word “man” generically; I refer also to women). Many of these are veterans, but because their gravestones don’t identify them as veterans, the interred at the grave is often overlooked. I’ve often asked myself, “Are we justified in fighting a war, and if so, why?”

The answer is a resounding yes.

The answer is found in Psalms, the 18th chapter, 34th verse, and this is just one of many verses that make war sometimes a necessary thing. David said, “God taught my hands to war.” If you fight for freedom to defend someone who cannot defend themselves for freedom to worship without coercion, freedom to assemble without fear and freedom from tyranny, then your fight is just and it’s often necessary. God understands our resolve.

Remember what we do here on earth is temporal, but in serving our fellow man, we perform an eternal service. God teaches us that we are our brother’s keeper.
The book of Genesis, Chapter 4, teaches us the lesson presented by brothers Cain and Abel. Cain slew Abel because of his jealousy, and the blood of Abel cried out to God from the ground. When God asked Cain where his brother was, he said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And God informed him that he was.

When on the battlefield, from the beginning of history, each army rallied to the standard which represents their country or king. It indicates that there are protections and people of like mind near that flag.

When we see Old Glory, we immediately know that this is the symbol of freedom, democracy, justice, loyalty and friendship. We memorialize those warriors who made the ultimate sacrifice to provide us with these blessings. The flag represents much more than a country, a people or an ideal. It represents the very heart of man and remembers the man who isn’t here. And I think that The American Legion is the embodiment of the very heart of man in service to his fellow man. I don’t know many organizations who dedicate their entire existence to the service of others in need, as does The American Legion.

In ancient Greece, mothers sent their sons off to war with the admonition that they either come home carrying that shield, or they come home carried on that shield. We don’t do that today. We don’t admonish our sons and daughters to carry or be carried on their shields, but one of our former presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, spoke for all of us when he said, “Speak softly, but carry a big stick.”

As long as we have warriors willing to carry the big stick, and we rightly recognize and honor them, we will continue to be a free nation because of that sacrifice. The New Testament tells us that when we see a brother in need and we only wish him well, or we fail to inquire if we can be of help to him, the Lord asks the question, “What good have you done him?”

Thank a veteran. Never fail to recognize one of the men who are not here. Never let him just be another man who’s not here.

To my precious brothers and sisters who have paid the price, I say rest easy, sleep well, my brother. Others have taken up where you fell. The line has held.
We are still free, thanks to God and you.

U.S. Navy veteran Robert A. Vick, who served during the Korean War, is a member of Paradise Post 79 in New Port Richey, Fla.