Memorial Day prayer at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial

Memorial Day prayer at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial

Memorial Day in Westminster - From left, Jan Battaglini, Glenn Bair, Sally Adams and Doug Battaglini, all of Westminster, gather during a prayer at the Carroll County Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Westminster Monday, May 25, 2015. (DYLAN SLAGLE/CARROLL COUNTY TIMES /May 25, 2015) - See more at: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/ph-cc-memorial-day-parade-052615-20150526,0,4595380.story

Not pictured, behind Doug Battaglini was Kevin E. Dayhoff and LTC. Ronald Hollingsworth, US Army (Ret.)

Memorial Day prayer at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial

May 25, 2015 http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/05/memorial-day-prayer-at-carroll-county.html

As has been our routine dating back to the 1990s, a number of us gather at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial at Willis and Court Streets in Westminster across the street from the historic Carroll County Courthouse.

The Carroll County Maryland Vietnam Memorial Park was dedicated on May 28, 1990. There are 19 names on the memorial. Of the 19 names – 17 killed in action, one missing in action and a former prisoner of war - some we knew.  Some we didn’t.  But they were all someone’s son or father or brother or uncle – or a cherished childhood friend.  Their faces have been silent for many years, but they all have a story to tell.

Over 2.7 million Americans served in the Vietnam War.  The average age was 19.  Of that number, 300,000 were wounded in action, and 75,000 were disabled.  It has been estimated that almost 5 million military personnel and civilians, from all sides, lost their life in the Vietnam War.  Of the 58,200 names listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, 1,046 are Marylanders who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Vietnam War.

This year our prayer was:

Put on the whole armor of God

May 25, 2015 Memorial Day CC Vietnam Memorial prayer

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, Westminster Fire Engine and Hose Co. No. 1 and Maryland Troopers Association Lodge #20 Chaplain.

The Lord be with you. Heavenly Father, Hear our prayer

We are brought here together through your common call to service to our family, community and country. We ask that God's healing and loving presence be with all of us today on Memorial Day who may have unspoken needs.

We have gathered here in your name as we have been called to be a people of prayer. We praise you because you are our creator, our redeemer and our provider.

We especially approach you today with humility and age in the shadow of the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial as we pay our respects to our fallen sons of Carroll.

Bless the souls of those brave American heroes from Carroll County on the black granite monument at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial who died in Vietnam. We lift up and place in your loving arms the eighteen fallen sons of Carroll, individually by name and together as a family. We pray that they all be remembered by our children and our children’s children.

We pray that we may (Ephesians 6:11,) “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” and be armed with the power of the Spirit, so that we may continue to make the Gospel understandable to those of us who after many years still have unanswered questions…

In the name of all we've learned by the Vietnam experience, God grant us a lasting love of peace and our fellow humans. 

Refresh our hearts with peace and love as we reconcile the Vietnam experiences with our current lives. 

For all those who selflessly put themselves in dangers way to protect others … let us pray to the Lord.

We know the good that comes to those who believe and are called for a greater purpose.

Bless this time together and for the many ways you reveal yourself to us, we gratefully praise you. 

Remember those who serve for our public safety and community. Keep them safe as they protect and serve. Allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us to effect the accomplishment of this prayer. AMEN

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E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/

See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf

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