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Sat 2/23/02 6:05 PM Dear Sir, I work
at McFarlin Memorial United
Methodist
Chuch, in Norman, OK. I am sorry to inform you that our beloved
Chaplain
George Martin passed away last year of cancer, before he managed to get
us all straightened out, unfortunately. He was "our voice of
God"
and is deeply missed by all of us who were lucky enough to cross his
wise
path. His presence will be felt for a long time. Your
tribute
to those who served on your ship is very interesting. I hope you
will update it with this information. Thank you, Carol Friesen
Carol,
The vast majority of the
American people
in a "name association" game, if asked
where
ATLANTA and JUNEAU were connected, would say Georgia and Alaska. Only
a tiny fraction would be able to call from their sub-conscious a
remembrance of
the Battle of Guadalcanal and the sacrifice made by the brave though
frightened men
who gave their lives as those two ships went to the bottom of Ironbottom
Sound and Indispensable Strait, in what Admiral King called, "one of
the
most furious sea battles ever fought."
For those who remember,
November
12-13,1942 is a night that must be commemorated.
In what spirit shall we remember this day and those men whose bodies
went to the depth of the sea as their souls joined the immortals? A
touching story
from the Old Testament illustrates the right way: King David, weary and
spent
after a hard battle with the Philistines, takes refuge in a cave near
his
native town of Bethlehem. Spurred by
memories
of his boyhood but knowing that the town
is
now occupied by the enemy and that he is therefore longing for the impossible,
he wishes for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. Hardly had
these words fallen from his parched lips, when three heroic soldiers
break
through the enemy lines, draw water from
the
well just outside to gates, and bring the precious
drink to their king. David recieves the vessel from the hands of
the
heroes but, "would not drink of it, poured it out to the Lord and said, 'Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.'" Bought at a price of the risk of so great a sacrifice, it was too costly a drink to be enjoyed selfishly. The only use worthy of it was to pour it out as a thank-offering to the Lord.
The sensivity to
sacrifices made
for us and this sense of obligation to make consecrated
use of the results of sacrifice, constitute the right spirit of commemorating
this Anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal and its monumental heroes.
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No man is worth his
salt
who is
not ready at all times to risk his body,
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