I have a photograph of my

father in my living room. It is old, a tiny bit faded,

and brown, rather than the expected black and white.

In the picture, my father

is posing in his naval uniform soon after the completion

of his boot camp. He is a young, vigorous, cocky,

grinning 17-year-old. Like many young men during World

War II, he left school, family, and farm to go do his bit

for freedom and for his country. I don't remember my dad

like he was in the faded photo. When he died four years

ago, he left a legacy of two sons, four grandchildren,

and, at present, four great-grandchildren.

Unlike the untold

thousands of young men of his day, he did not die in

the war and remain "forever young," his last

image a frozen youth in a photograph. I have many other

photographs, many picturing him as a grandfather,

wrinkled and gray. On this upcoming Memorial Day weekend,

I will fly the flag and pay honor to him and to all who

have served and died in America's many wars.

On Monday, I will make a

short trip to the City Hall Plaza in Peachtree City and

participate in a special ceremony honoring those who

have, by their lives and their deaths, purchased freedom

for my children and grandchildren. The celebration begins

early, at 7:45 a.m., and will feature a four-man drum and

bagpipe team, a demonstration by a former member of the

United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Team, a display

of military anti-armor equipment, and special essays

presented by local students.

A special guest will be

retired General Raymond G. Davis, USMC, a genuine

American hero. A Georgia native and graduate of Georgia

Tech, Davis was commissioned a second lieutenant after

completing the ROTC program at Tech. General Davis earned

the nation's highest award for valor, the Congressional

Medal of Honor, during the Korean War and the Navy Cross

during World War II. One of the most highly decorated

Marine Corps veterans alive today, General Davis, served

in Vietnam as well.

During WW II, he saw action

in such places as Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Cape

Gloucester, and Peleliu. During the battles in Peleliu,

all of Davis' platoon leaders had been either killed or

wounded. When Davis himself was wounded, he refused

medical evacuation and led the attack against the

entrenched Japanese forces at Coral Ridge. For these

actions, he received the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross.

In Korea, Davis led his

battalion in the rescue of a Marine company that had come

under attack while defending the Toktong Pass. His

actions saved the rifle company from total annihilation

and enabled two Marine regiments to escape destruction.

For actions "above and beyond the call of

duty," he received the Medal of Honor.

As a major general in

Vietnam, Davis was successful in implementing aggressive

high mobility methods of combat, in place of the former

defensive posture, for which he received the

Distinguished Service Cross. In 1971, Gen. Davis received

his fourth star and was appointed to serve as the

assistant commandant of the Marine Corps.

Still ramrod straight and

"all-Marine" at age 85, Gen. Davis continues to

be involved at high levels of service to the country for

which he went thrice to war. It will be my great honor to

meet him. Like my father, he survived his experiences and

lived to appear in many photographs.

I doubt that the paths

of my father and Gen. Davis ever crossed, but like

millions of other men and women, they shared the common

belief that freedom, home and family were worth fighting

for. Like others, they believed that some things were

even worth dying for.

On Memorial Day, we don't

gather in hallowed or prestigious places to pay honor to

people like my father or even to people like Gen. Davis.

We gather together because only the living can pay homage

to the dead.

Independence Day celebrates

our national birthday. Veteran's Day honors all veterans

who have ever served. But Memorial Day is different. It

is a day that we remember that the reason we can go to

the lake, or to the pool, or to the backyard barbecue, is

due largely to those who, unlike the general and my

father, will be locked forever in those old faded

photographs portraying them as men who never aged.

Memorial Day is set aside to remember the dead.

In their memory, we

salute the flag. In their honor, we beat the drums and

sound the bagpipes. In deference to them, we fly flags,

pray prayers, and have parades. It is a day that we

remember that the joy of the nation over the victories

won in wars and the elation felt at the soldier's return

home at the end of those wars was not shared by all.

We remember the mothers who

wept, the fathers who sobbed, the wives and the children

who didn't laugh or smile gain for months, if not years.

We remember the futures lost and the dreams shattered. We

remember the men and women frozen in their youth in old

photographs. And we pray that it may never happen again.

We pray that the countless lives sacrificed will not be

in vain and that we will be worthy of their deaths.

Monday is a time to bring

your children and grandchildren to a place of remembrance

and a place of reflection. You are invited to join with

me and hundreds of others Monday in Peachtree City as

Gen. Raymond Davis leads the community in honoring those

men and women in the faded photographs.

[Father

David Epps (USMC 1970-73) is rector of Christ the King

Church. He may be contacted at [email protected] or

at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com .]