| SUNNYTEE'SMusic4Lovers |
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| Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen. |
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| Let us not forget to pray. You are about to read excerpts of a call to prayer by one of the most remarkable Generals of our time, General Patton. This call to prayer has never rung any truer than it has today in lieu of recent events. The photo to the right was taken by Patton's wife, Beatrice Ayer Patton. |
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| The following is an excerpt between General Patton and the Chief Chaplain in 1944 which took place shortly before the glorious Battle of the Bulge. "Chaplain, sit down for a moment; I want to talk to you about this business of prayer." He rubbed his face in his hands, was silent for a moment, then rose and walked over to the high window, and stood there with his back toward me as he looked out on the falling rain. "Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army?" was his question. I parried: "Does the General mean by chaplains, or by the men?" "By everybody," he replied. To this I countered: "I am afraid to admit it, but I do not believe that much praying is going on. When there is fighting, everyone prays, but now with this constant rain -- when things are quiet, dangerously quiet, men just sit and wait for things to happen. Prayer out here is difficult. Both chaplains and men are removed from a special building with a steeple. Prayer to most of them is a formal, ritualized affair, involving special posture and a liturgical setting. I do not believe that much praying is being done." Chaplain, I am a strong believer in Prayer. There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by Praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That's where prayer comes in. Up to now, in the Third Army, God has been very good to us. We have never retreated; we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics. This is because a lot of people back home are praying for us. We were lucky in Africa, in Sicily, and in Italy. Simply because people prayed. But we have to pray for ourselves, too. A good soldier is not made merely by making him think and work. There is something in every soldier that goes deeper than thinking or working--it's his "guts." It is something that he has built in there: it is a world of truth and power that is higher than himself. Great living is not all output of thought and work. A man has to have intake as well. I don't know what you call it, but I call it Religion, Prayer, or God. The following was issued to the Army Chaplains as a "Call to Prayer." The General directed that it be circulated not only to the 486 chaplains, but to every organization commander down to and including the regimental level. Three thousand two hundred copies were distributed to every unit in the Third Army. "Training Letter No. 5" "Chaplains of the Third Army, "At this stage of the operations I would call upon the chaplains and the men of the Third United States Army to focus their attention on the importance of prayer. "Our glorious march from the Normandy Beach across France to where we stand, before and beyond the Siegfried Line, with the wreckage of the German Army behind us should convince the most skeptical soldier that God has ridden with our banner. Pestilence and famine have not touched us. We have continued in unity of purpose. We have had no quitters; and our leadership has been masterful. The Third Army has no roster of Retreats. None of Defeats. We have no memory of a lost battle to hand on to our children from this great campaign. "But we are not stopping at the Siegfried Line. Tough days may be ahead of us before we eat our rations in the Chancellery of the Deutsches Reich. "As chaplains it is our business to pray. We preach its importance. We urge its practice. But the time is now to intensify our faith in prayer, not alone with ourselves, but with every believing man, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or Christian in the ranks of the Third United States Army. "Those who pray do more for the world than those who fight; and if the world goes from bad to worse, it is because there are more battles than prayers. 'Hands lifted up,' said Bosuet, 'smash more battalions than hands that strike.' Gideon of Bible fame was least in his father's house. He came from Israel's smallest tribe. But he was a mighty man of valor. His strength lay not in his military might, but in his recognition of God's proper claims upon his life. He reduced his Army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred men lest the people of Israel would think that their valor had saved them. We have no intention to reduce our vast striking force. But we must urge, instruct, and indoctrinate every fighting man to pray as well as fight. In Gideon's day, and in our own, spiritually alert minorities carry the burdens and bring the victories. "Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace. "We must march together, all out for God. The soldier who 'cracks up' does not need sympathy or comfort as much as he needs strength. We are not trying to make the best of these days. It is our job to make the most of them. Now is not the time to follow God from 'afar off.' This Army needs the assurance and the faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail. "Be assured that this message on prayer has the approval, the encouragement, and the enthusiastic support of the Third United States Army Commander. "With every good wish to each of you for a very Happy Christmas, and my personal congratulations for your splendid and courageous work since landing on the beach, I am," etc., etc., signed The Third Army Commander. |
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| The following prayer was written by General Douglas MacArthur A SOLDIER'S PRAYER Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee....Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail. Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain." Though most of us are not nearly so eloquent, I suspect that all Christian parents have uttered a similar prayer. Mindful of the great responsibility that God has given those of us with children, we pray fervently that God would help us as we strive to train our children in the ways of the Lord. While still childless, Hannah made this vow to God: "O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me, and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life...." (I Samuel 1:11). It was a vow she kept, and her son Samuel became one of the greatest spiritual leaders Israel ever knew. May Hannah's prayer and Gen MacArthur's prayer be the prayer of all Christian parents this day. |
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| A SOLDIER'S PRAYER God our Father Help me to remain true to my ideals during my service to my country. Help me be what is in America, the land of the free. May I realize that I represent what our country stands for. My uniform is a symbol of duty and valor both in peace and in war. I take up arms to defend what all Americans hold dear: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Grant me the strength to live according to these ideals, the courage of my convictions, and the resolve to endure whatever dangers threaten. With you at our side I fear no evil and resist every enemy, secure in the knowledge that you hold me in the palm of your hand. Amen. |
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| OFFICIAL MILITARY SITES US Army Home Page http://www.army.mil/ US Airforce Home Page http://www.af.mil/ US Navy Home Page http://www.navy.mil/ US Marine Corps Home Page http://www.usmc.mil/ US Coast Guard Home Page http://www.uscg.mil/USCG.shtm |
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| Get information on Selections and Promotions, Officer and Enlisted Management and much more. https://www.perscom.army.mil/ Get information on current Military Pay rates. http://www.dfas.mil/index.htm |
| MEDICAL AND DENTAL Get information on Tricare benefits and providers. http://www.tricare.osd.mil/ Find a dental provider. http://www.ucci.com/was/ucciweb/home.jsp |
| RELOCATION LINKS Information on military installations world wide. https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/swg/owa/WebGuard.Login?APPL=9004&RULE=01 Check this out for information on ACS programs. http://www.armycommunityservice.org/home.asp? Links to homes for sale, realtors and more. http://www.realtor.com/default.asp?hm=on&poe=realtor |
| LINKS FOR SPOUSES AND FAMILY SGT Mom's, the Internet site for Military families. http://www.sgtmoms.com/home.asp SpouseNet.com http://www.spousenet.com/default.cfm Army Wife's Website http://www.armywives.com/ |
| MISCELLANEOUS LINKS Look at job openings, creat a resume or check out programs offered by the Civilian Personnel Office. CPO Online http://www.cpol.army.mil/ This site has links to web pages for many DoDDs schools world wide. http://www.odedodea.edu/web/ Check out all the different programs offer by Moral Welfare and Recreation. http://www.armymwr.com/ Get information on programs and services offer by the Red Cross. http://www.crossnet.org/afes/index.html Get information on services offered by the USO. http://www.uso.org/pubs/8_13_18.cfm?CFID=960550&CFTOKEN=73489952 |
| RADIO STATIONS ARE SUPPORTING OUR MILITARY Here you can read how stations are keeping their communities connected through email, newsletters, website stories, editorials and more. http://www.radiocares.org/listings2.asp |
| Bible Help Org. The Unsung Hero |
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| CHILDREN AND RESOURCES FOR PARENTS Parents Place http://www.parentsplace.com/ Parent Soup http://www.parentsoup.com/ A parent's resource by pediatricians. http://www.kidsgrowth.com/ A great site for kids. Find a pen pal, play games, write stories and more. Includes info for parents and teachers. http://www.kidscom.com/home_flash.html |
| Thank you for visiting ... This is in dedication to all service people past and present in honor of US servicemen and women and also Canadian, British and all of our allies who have always tried to be there when we have needed them. |
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| Click On Sunny To Return To PART 1 |
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| Soldier Boy ~ midi |
