Lest We Forget
The Fourth of July is a holiday that is filled with American flags, motherhood, and apple pie. It is a time for families to gather together. It is a time for young people to create memories and for older folks to remember a few. It is a time when we remember the birth of our nation… the sacrifices of the early patriots… and those who have given their lives in the years since then so that we might continue to enjoy the freedoms that are guaranteed by our Constitution. It is a time of laughter… of singing… of eating (of course)… and, in most years, of fireworks… though there is some debate about it this year. But, in all the celebrating that you may do in the next few days, I would like you to take a moment think about the stories that we do not hear… and remember some of those whose names are rarely mentioned… remember the wounded.
Twelve years ago, Lewis B. Puller Jr., the winner of a Pulitzer Prize for the book "Fortunate Son" on his experiences as a Marine platoon commander who was severely wounded in the Vietnam War, took his own life. Puller had lost both legs and the use of his hands in the war. On May 11, 1994, he finally succumbed to stump pain… to frustration at his inability to grasp objects, and to depression, which he had fought for twenty-five years. Despite his disabilities, Puller fought his troubles to the end. In fact, just before his death, he had completed a trip to Hanoi to pick school sites for the Vietnam Children's Fund. The first school was named for him. In current military terms, Puller was considered an “acceptable loss”… one of the combatants left dead or wounded as a direct result of the military’s pursuit of an objective. There were 370,658 “acceptable losses” among U.S. servicemen during the Vietnam War: 57,042 U.S. servicemen were killed and 313,616 U.S. servicemen were wounded.
“Acceptable loss” is a euphemism that was coined during the Vietnam War. It seeks to rationalize the number of dead or wounded in any conflict by applying a mathematic equation to assets and liabilities of war… and to project a numeric outcome to the struggle. But what it really does is to dehumanize the reality of the loss of life…or the loss of the quality of life… by our servicemen and women. Not only does the term “acceptable loss” reduce a human life to the equivalent of other losses we experience in life… such as the loss of property in a burglary or the loss of money when we gamble… but it attempts to say that such a loss is “acceptable” at some level… and, therefore, that it is O.K. .
There were “acceptable losses” during World War I when our country’s dead totaled 126,000 men and our wounded totaled 234,300. There were “acceptable losses” during World War II when our country’s dead totaled 407,318 men and our wounded totaled 671,801. There are also “acceptable losses” during the current Iraq War… so far, more than 2,550 dead losses and officially 18,490 wounded losses. Let me ask you something: Who do you think these losses are “acceptable” to? To the mothers who nursed these children at their breasts? To the fathers who coached them and mentored them? To the brothers and sisters who laughed and cried with them? To the friends who played in the school yard with them? To the pastor who waved “good-bye” to them as they went off to basic training? Or to the God, who created them for his own pleasure? Just who are these losses “acceptable” to?
Our text today tells us the story of one to whom such losses were not “acceptable.” David mourned the loss of Israel’s first king, Saul, and the loss of his best friend, Jonathan. Jonathan’s death was a combat death. He was killed in the conflict with the Philistines. In military terms, his was an “acceptable loss.” Saul was wounded in the conflict, yes, but his death was actually a suicide… something our nation now labels “collateral damage.” “Collateral damage” is an unintended outcome of a military operation. “Collateral damage” is the 587,000 Vietnamese civilians who were killed during the Vietnam War. “Collateral damage” is the seventy suicides among our servicemen who have served in the Iraq War. “Collateral damage”… in my mind… is another nice euphemism that allows us to dehumanize the tragedy of the loss of human life.
By now, some of you think that I am preaching an anti-war sermon. I’m not. There may be times when armed conflict is justified. That is not the issue here. The issue, as I see it, is this: While there may be a time when armed conflict is necessary in our eyes, there is never a time when the loss of a human life is “acceptable.” The loss of a human life is never insignificant…never “acceptable”… to God… regardless of the reason for that loss. There is never a time when a person is wounded in battle that God does not feel that person’s pain…or the mental anguish of the person who was called upon to inflict that pain on another human being. Our government has chosen to label the losses that we, as a nation, incur in battle… whether they are losses of life or the loss of an individual’s ability to fully engage in life due wounds suffered in battle… our government has chosen to label these losses as “acceptable losses” if they were incurred in the pursuit of a military objective. I am here to tell you today that there are no such losses that are considered “acceptable” to God. And, therefore, those losses should never be considered “acceptable” to us. “Necessary” in our eyes, perhaps… but never, ever “acceptable.”
Each one of those large numbers that I read represents a human being… created by God and infused with gifts given by God to be used for his glory. When one of God’s precious creatures is destroyed…it is life that cannot be replaced… for, like the snowflakes, each one is unique. That tragedy is not… nor will it ever be… “acceptable.” It is a tragedy.
David, one of Israel’s greatest poets and a man close to God, mourned the life of King Saul and Jonathan, even though their deaths paved the way for David himself to ascend the throne of Israel. David knew that God was weeping… even as he himself wept… for these men were not “acceptable losses” or “collateral damage”… they were human lives. A human life is not an “acceptable loss”… it is a tragedy. And that is something we should not forget. Amen.
2 Samuel 17:1, 17-27; Psalm 30