(For this
heart-warming story, I graciously thank Sydney.)
A nurse took the
tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.
“Your son is here,”
she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the
words several times
before the patient's
eyes opened.
Heavily sedated because of the
pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine who was
standing outside the oxygen tent. He
reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old
man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that
the Marine could sit beside the bed. All
through the night, the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward,
holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the
Marine move away and rest awhile.
He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the
Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital ~ the
clanking of the oxygen tank..the laughter of the night staff members who were
exchanging greetings...the cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then, she heard him say a
few gentle words. The dying man said
nothing...only held tightly to his son all through the night. Along towards
dawn, the old man died. The Marine
released the now lifeless hand he'd been holding and went to tell the
nurse. While she did what she had to do,
he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but
the Marine interrupted her. “Who was
that man?” he asked. The nurse was startled, “He was your father,” she
answered. “No, he wasn't,” the Marine
replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”
“Then why didn't you say
something when I took you to him?”
“I knew right away there had been
a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't
here. When I realized that he was too
sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I
stayed.
“I came here tonight to find Mr.
William Gray. His son was...killed in
Iraq today and I was sent to inform him.
What was this Gentleman's Name?”
The nurse, with tears
in her eyes answered, “Mr. William Gray......
Message to
Mankind: The next time someone needs
you...just be there. Stay!
We are not human
beings going through a temporary spiritual experience.
We are spiritual
beings going through a temporary human experience.
This is what we are
put on this Earth to do anyway.
“More Than a Name
on the Wall”
The lyrics of this song tell of a
mother walking up to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in Washington, DC
and finding her son's name on the Memorial Wall. She talks to God, telling Him how much she
misses her boy and what he meant to her. John Rimel and Jimmy Fortune wrote
these words in 1988. At the time, Fortune
was singing tenor with The Statler Brothers and they recorded it in
1989. Their rendition became a big hit
with the Virginia group and in 1990, it was named ~
The Top Country
Music Single of the year.
Now retired, The Statler
Brothers had a weekly television program which I diligently watched. A few
months ago, they appeared on Gaither Gospel Hour with their “Farewell
Concert” after a 39 year career... and sang this song...“a moving tribute to
our servicemen who keep our country free.”
I saw her from a
distance as she walked up to the wall ~
In her hand she
held some flowers as her tears began to fall.
And she took out
pen and paper as to trace her memories
and she looked up
to heaven and the words she said were these:
She said, “Lord,
my boy was special and he meant so much to me...
and Oh, I'd love
to see him just one more time, you see.
All I have are the
memories and the moments to recall.
So, Lord, could
you tell Him, he's more than a name on the wall?
She said he really
missed the family and being home on Christmas Day
and he died for
God and country in a place so far away.
I remember, just a little boy playing war since he was
three;
But Lord, I know
this time...he's not coming home to me.
And she said,
“Lord, my boy was special and he meant so much to me
and Oh, I'd love
to see him...but I know it just can't be.
So I thank you for
my memories and the moments to recall.
But Lord, could
you tell him...he's more than a name on the wall?”
“Lord, could you
tell him...
He's more than a name on the wall?”
The Vietnam
Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC honours US service members of the United
States Armed Forces who fought in the Vietnam War and those who died in service
in Vietnam, South East Asia and the service members who were unaccounted for (missing
in action during the war?).
Merle
Baird-Kerr...written September 10, 2014
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