"The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention." - Richard Moss, M.D.

I have here a very old letter, written to a Mrs. Bixby in Boston.

"Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln."

From the movie Script of Saving Private Ryan (1998), actor Harve Presnell in his role as General George C. Marshall

You only need to look at the headline news stories today to find real life dramas of struggle and victory. While any war for that matter is a devastating calamity of scale that seems unfathomable for humanity, the will to serve and give the ultimate sacrifice is not an exception.

In these hours of trial and tribulation we find military history repeated. Jason Hubbard is returning home from Iraq---alive---luckily where some over 3200 have not. This is not an ordinary repatriation---it comes after his two brothers both died in the Iraq conflict. Jason's brother Nathan, 21, died in a devastating Blackhawk helicopter crash last week in Northern Iraq. Nathan’s unfortunate demise comes nearly three years after his other sibling Jared, 22, was killed by an IED-improvised explosive device-- near Fallujah, Iraq.

Inspired by Jared’s commitment, service, and untimely death, Jason and Nathan Hubbard both enlisted in the US Army in 2005. During a TV interview Nathan, then aged 19, is told by his mother that Nathan will not be allowed to join the army.

Nathan says, "There’s lots of things popping in my head. Go there and honor him [Jared] and maybe a little vengeance pumping through my blood, too.”

The irony of this real life story is its identical circumstances to the Sullivan and Niland brothers. Perhaps you recall the 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan where film Director Steven Spielberg protrayed the rescue mission to save the last surviving son in the middle of the invasion of Normandy, World War II.

I imagine that the US military will go through extraordinary measures to ensure Jason Hubbard is safely returned home from Iraq.

Interestingly enough, sometimes many of us feel God should treat us the same away as he should “rescue” us from our pain and sorrow. Whether it be terminal cancer, a painful divorce, bankruptcy, or sickness--but He doesn’t.

In dealing with any difficulty the principle of waiting for God (or waiting for the rescuers) to work in our difficulty remains an important part of the overall scenario.
Take courage.

God has a plan to rescue you. “the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials” (2 Peter 2:9). So you definitely can count on it as the Hubbard family will: When you are faithful and patient through all types of trouble, God will, but only in His time, deliver you far beyond your imagination.


My dear Mrs. Ryan:

It's with the most profound sense of joy that I write to inform you your son, Private James Ryan, is well and, at this very moment, on his way home from European battlefields. Reports from the front indicate James did his duty in combat with great courage and steadfast dedication, even after he was informed of the tragic loss your family has suffered in this great campaign to rid the world of tyranny and oppression. I take great pleasure in joining the Secretary of War, the men and women of the U.S. Army, and the citizens of a grateful nation in wishing you good health and many years of happiness with James at your side. Nothing, not even the safe return of a beloved son, can compensate you, or the thousands of other American families, who have suffered great loss in this tragic war. I might share with you some words which have sustained me through long, dark nights of peril, loss, and heartache. And I quote: "I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom." -Abraham Lincoln.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
George C. Marshall, General, Chief of Staff.

From the movie Script of Saving Private Ryan (1998), actor Harve Presnell as General George C. Marshall

Copyright © 2007 by Myles Saulibio. All Rights Reserved