Bill Pratts Talk..... In Memoriam

Fear not, I am with thee;
oh be not dismayed.
For I am thy God
and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee
and cause thee to stand.
Upheld by my righteous
Upheld by my righteous
Omnipotent hand.
from: How Firm a Foundation
hymn # 85

(I believe in fate...in synchronicity and all that 'stuff.' How else would I explain that while rummaging through all my vast collection of papers and talks and quotes and articles..... that were in no particular order...and to then have this talk be sitting on the top of the box in the bottom of my closet, for over a year....and to have it happen just this week!!!??? SYNCHRONICITY!!)
ENJOY
" My talk is about the Second Coming, and war, and really its about Memorial Day and what it should mean to the Latter-Day Saints.
The Second Coming figures so prominently with the Latter-Day Saints that the concept is part of our title "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."
Maybe we should be more properly titled "The Church of honest people trying to obtain righteousness in a time of war, rumors of war, famine, pestilence, pornography, nudeness, lewdness, and general wickedness, by leaving the world behind and following the Savior, even Jesus Christ church." But "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sounds better and is shorter and more easily remembered.
Doctrine and Covenants 87:2,6
"And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations...And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn...until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations..."
So right now you're probably saying to yourself, "whoa, I didnt sign up for this war stuff..." Yeah, you really did sign up for this, and I can prove it. In the 250th song in our hymn book it starts with ...
"We are all enlisted till the conflict is o're, Happy are we! Happy are we!! Soldiers in the Army there's a bright crown in store, We shall win and wear it by and by!!"
War, wickedness, Second Coming, soldiers, Memorial Day, quite a full plate.
When would this all begin?
The Civil War was to serve as a marker of the beginning of wars and rumors of wars that would result in the death and misery of untold numbers of Heavenly Fathers children.
Over 620,000 soldiers died during the Civil War when brother fought brother, 204,000 from battle wounds, and 416,000 from disease. That's about one third of the population of this state.
War is horrible, but the Civil War was particularly so because of the increased lethality of the rifled musket, and exploding artillery shells that saw their first use on the farm lands of America. As an example, of the 7,000 men who served in the famed Iron Brigade, only 1,000 returned to New York.
Before the Civil War, 20,000 Americans gave their lives to gain and maintain our freedom. Since the first shots of the Civil War, almost 1.2 million Americans have given their lives to preserve our Nation.
Although the American Civil War was the milestone that marked the beginning of this war, the war has been going on since the foundation of this earth.
Revelations 12: 7-9, 17
"And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, and called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...And the dragon was wroth...and went to make war with...[those] which keep the commandments of God, and have a testimony of Jesus Christ."
The war is directed towards us, those who "...keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Maybe this is why everyone in the world seems to hate Americans, because America has sheltered and nurtured the church.
Cain slew Able for the Oath's sake, and Able became the first martyr and veteran in the War that began in Heaven and was continued on the earth.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, sought all his days to purify his people, and it is said of him that so powerful was the word which Enoch spake that "rivers turned from their courses" and "mountains fled before him" And though the 'world' sought to destroy Enoch and his people, they were kept at bay by the power of his word which the Lord gave him.
What is the cause of war and how do we stop it?
From James, Chapter 3:1-4
"From whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; you fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
In this fight, you cannot sit on the fence. For they that are not with us are against us. If it isnt righteousness, it's wickedness. There are no gray areas.
Armageddon is a word with which all Saints should be familiar. It's name comes from the contraction of "Har Meggido" meaning the mountain or ruins of Meggido, and it lies on the south side of the plains of Esdraelon at the entrance to a cut in the mountains that leads to the plateau of what is now the West Bank. It is the last defensible terrain before Jerusalem and I believe the Schverpunct or the decisive point of the battle of Armageddon and the place where the defense of Isreal will fail just prior to the Second Coming.
This is all very interesting but what does it have to do with America, veterans and Memorial Day?
War is our legacy. It is our birthright and our sacred duty. We were born on this earth because we chose sides in the first War, the War in Heaven. It continues. We are ALL enlisted.
This is a choice land, a holy land. In the Book of Mormon, we are counseled that we must serve the God of this land or be removed.
I believe Satan wants to destroy this United States and I believe it has only been because of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that we haven't been conquered.
What about these young men and women? The average age of those who die in our wars is 19 years of age; about the same age as our missionaries.
They come from all walks of life, from all religions, from all races. At first they wore blue and gray, later they wore khaki or olive drab, now they wear forest or desert camouflage. In every age they are the same, the American Fighting Man (or woman). They all take the oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies..." Their mottos are "Duty, Honor, Country" or "Ducet Amor Patriae" "Led by LOve of Country", or "Toujour Pret" "Always Ready" or "Semper Fidelius" "Always Faithful". These are their watchwords. When they're hurt, they bleed. When they die, they almost universally whisper the name of the person who is uppermost in their mind and heart, and usually that's their mother.
They sacrifice all their tomorrows for the Cause. They dont do it for conquest or gold, nor for lands or oil.
If you ask them, some would say they did it out of duty, others might say they didnt realize what they were getting into but soon found themselves swept away by the enormity of it all and refused to turn and run. Some would say they did it for their buddies, their band of brothers. Some dont know why they enlisted, it just seemed like the thing to do at the time. None of them expect to die, not really.
Many faced the monstrosities of War and survived to grow old with their wives and children. Some never got older. And when the time came, all prayed to God to spare them, even if only to whisper a silent prayer on their lips. They made deals, promises, asked for forgiveness. Lt. Winters of Echo Company, 506th Airborne Infantry promised God that if he were ever allowed to see his home again, he would live out the rest of his days in peace. They were frightened...They werent saints, most were away from home for the first time and some wandered in forbidden fields. Some, a very few, did things in the heat of battle they ordinarily wouldnt have done. Whatever their sacrifice, whatever their failings, whatever their strengths and their weaknesses, one must stand in awe at their collective courage and the sum of their sacrifice. Viewed from this perspective, it is truly awe inspiring.
We left 117 thousand dead and suffered 204 thousand wounded in WW1 to keep France free. Great Britain and France demanded and extracted reparations from Germany. We didnt ask for anything. We conquered the German and Japanese, suffered 407 thousand dead and 671 thousand wounded and gave them back their countries better, stronger, and free. We protected the freedom of Korea with 34 thousand war dead and 103 thousand wounded and never asked for anything in return except maybe friendship. We sacrificed 59 thousand dead and 153 thousand wounded to try to bring freedom to the land of Vietnam. We've lost almost ??? in Afghanistan and Iraq and it continues.
In all these wars, we havent asked for anything in return for our sacrifice except for a little piece of earth where we could bury and honor our dead.
1.2 million honored dead.
Let me tell you about one of them.

An American Civil War Letter

In 1861, a Union officer named Sullivan Ballou, assigned to the Grand Army of the Potomac, wrote home to his wife on Smithfield, Rhode Island.

July 14, 1861,
Dear Sarah,
The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps tomorrow and lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel compelled to write a few lines that may fall upon your eyes when I am no more.
I have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged. And my courage neither halts nor falters. I know now how American civilization now leans upon the triumph of our government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. I am willing, completely willing, to lay down all my joy in this life to help maintain this government and to pay that debt.
Sarah, my love for you is deathless and seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence can break. Yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bares me irresistibly with all those chains to the battlefield. The memory of all the blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And oh Sarah, how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years when God willing we may still have lived and loved together and see our boys grown to honorable manhood around us. Sarah, if I do not return, never forget how much I loved you. Nor, that when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been. But Sarah, my dear, dear Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I shall always be with you in the brightest day and darkest night. Always. Always. And when the soft breeze fans your cheek it shall be my breath, or the cool air upon your throbbing temple, it shall by my spirit passing by.
Sarah, do not mourn me dead. Think only that I am gone and wait for me. For we shall meet again. My dearest Sarah. We shall meet again.

Captain Sulliva Bellou was killed a week later at the first battle of Bull Run.

In the movie "Saving Private Ryan," Captain Miller lies mortally wounded at the bridge. Private Ryan, the man he and eight others had died to save pulled close to him when he saw that Captain Miller was trying to say something.
His words were simple yet penetrating, and worth remembering for all of us. "Earn this."
This Memorial Day, remember them the best way you can.
1.2 million honored dead. Be a friend of God and "earn this." Do your duty to your family, to your community, to your country and to your God and "earn this." The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. "earn this." Honor your priesthood and "earn this." Stand in holy places and be not moved and "earn this."

(THANK YOU Bill Pratt!!! Though I truly cant recall where I may know you from.....please forgive me for taking the liberty of 'publishing' this most excellent talk for my blog world to read!!)