Category: honor

I Bind Unto Myself Today

Patrick, Apostle to Ireland

I Bind Unto Myself Today
By: attr. St. Patrick

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation,
His baptism in the Jordan River,
His cross of death for my salvation,
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom,
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, his might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need,
The wisdom of my god to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature has creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation;
Salvation is of Christ the Lord!

$

Hymn # 172 from Lutheran Worship

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A List of Alaskans Who Died in the Vietnam War

I would like to post this list of the KIA during the Vietnam War.  This is a complete list of everyone who died from Alaska in combat during this difficult time.  We can question this war, but we cannot challenge or impugn their honor and sacrifice.  I intend to do this, on Memorial Day, 2011.

I simply don’t want their names to be forgotten.

Name– Rank– Branch– Hometown– DoD

  1. ANDERSON THOMAS EDWARD CPL MARINES SPENARD 6-Oct-62
  2. BANTA MICHAEL DEAN PFC ARMY CORDOVA 2-Oct-70
  3. BARR EDWARD NASUESAK SN NAVY BREVIG MISSION 3-May-69
  4. BARR THOMAS M SP5 ARMY ANCHORAGE 12-May-69
  5. BAUER RICHARD GENE SP5 ARMY ANCHORAGE 4-Nov-69
  6. BETTS LARRY LE ROY 2LT ARMY EAGLE RIVER 21-Nov-69
  7. BROWN CHARLES EDWARD PFC ARMY THORNE BAY 6-Dec-67
  8. BROWN DAVID DEE JR PFC MARINES WRANGELL 16-Apr-68
  9. BULLOCK GARY EDWIN SP4 ARMY ANCHORAGE 31-Jan-67
  10. CHILDERS WILLIAM STEVEN WO ARMY FAIRBANKS 3-Jan-69
  11. CHMIEL DONALD GEORGE SSGT ARMY CHUGIAK 25-Aug-70
  12. COOK CLINTON ARTHUR SGT ARMY HYDABURG 28-Apr-70
  13. COX DANIEL FRANKLIN SP5 ARMY ELMENDORF A F B 15-Jan-71
  14. DUNCAN WILLIAM BRADLEY WO ARMY ANCHORAGE 31-Jan-68
  15. EATON WILLIAM ALBERT PFC ARMY SOLDOTNA 18-Apr-70
  16. ELISOVSKY DAVID HENRY SGT ARMY CORDOVA 23-Jan-66
  17. ELLIOTT ROBERT THOMAS III 1LT ARMY ANCHORAGE 9-Sep-68
  18. FERRY DAVID LYNN SP5 ARMY FAIRBANKS 22-Aug-68
  19. FLEENER NICK ULYSSES SP5 ARMY SPENARD 29-Jul-70
  20. GAMBLE CHARLES F JR SP4 ARMY JUNEAU 28-Oct-69
  21. GRIFFIN DALE ANTHONY LCPL MARINES ANCHORAGE 14-Mar-68
  22. GULLIKSEN HOWARD WAYNE SSGT ARMY SEWARD 30-Jan-68
  23. HARMON DANIEL LEE SP4 ARMY KODIAK 2-Jun-67
  24. HIBPSHMAN WILLIAM EARL SP5 ARMY ANCHORAGE 25-Jun-69
  25. HOKE MICHAEL THOMAS PFC MARINES ELMENDORF AFB 21-Dec-67
  26. HORN JERRY VERNE SP4 ARMY SOLDOTNA 16-Sep-67
  27. INT-HOUT KURT SP4 ARMY KODIAC 29-Jan-72
  28. IVEY SAM PFC ARMY MC GRATH 16-Sep-65
  29. JONES WAYNE ELMER CWO ARMY FAIRBANKS 17-Aug-67
  30. KETZLER GILBERT JR PFC ARMY FAIRBANKS 10-Oct-69
  31. KILBUCK GEORGE GREGORY PFC ARMY BETHEL 27-Aug-65
  32. KITO DONALD HARRY LCPL MARINES PETERSBURG 8-Jul-67
  33. KOSLOSKY HOWARD MARK AN NAVY ANCHORAGE 2-Oct-69
  34. LA BELLE KERMIT HAROLD JR PFC MARINES FAIRBANKS 28-Jul-67
  35. LANG MICKEY DANIEL PFC ARMY ANCHORAGE 19-May-71
  36. LAPE DAVID ALEN WO ARMY CORDOVA 27-Nov-67
  37. LEE ROBERT EDWARD SP4 ARMY FAIRBANKS 17-Feb-66
  38. LINGLEY NORMAN LEWIS PFC ARMY DOUGLAS 6-Nov-66
  39. MC INERNEY PATRICK M PFC ARMY FAIRBANKS 12-Mar-69
  40. MILLHOUSE KENNETH BRUCE SP4 ARMY SPENARD 18-Dec-68
  41. PAULSEN WARREN BM3 NAVY VALDES 23-Jun-69
  42. PIASKOWSKI WILLIAM FRANCI SP4 ARMY ANCHORAGE 14-Mar-68
  43. PLETT LARRY JOE PFC ARMY ANCHORAGE 20-Jul-70
  44. PRENTICE DAVID SHELTON GSGT MARINES ANCHORAGE 29-Jul-67
  45. RAINEY LLOYD STEVEN CWO ARMY ANCHORAGE 12-Dec-71
  46. RICE ANDREW WILLIAM JR GMG3 NAVY FT RICHARDSON 23-May-69
  47. RICHARDSON FLOYD WHITLEY COL AIR FORCE ANCHORAGE 4-Oct-79
  48. RIDLEY NORMAN FRANKLIN AA NAVY METLAKATLA 8-Jan-69
  49. ROBISON DONALD ROBERT CAPT ARMY COLLEGE 12-Mar-68
  50. SANDERS DONALD RAY PFC ARMY ELMENDORF AFB 25-Mar-67
  51. SIMEONOFF FREDERICK M WO ARMY SPENARD 17-Apr-70
  52. SPERL DONALD WALTER CPL ARMY JUNEAU 8-May-68
  53. THOMPSON WILLIAM ARTHUR CPL ARMY KETCHIKAN 12-Jul-68
  54. VANDERPOOL JOE WAYNE PFC MARINES ANCHORAGE 1-Mar-68
  55. WALTERS WILLIAM FRANCIS CWO ARMY ANCHORAGE 12-Jun-70
  56. WHITNEY ARTHUR JOSEPH JR PFC ARMY KETCHIKAN 5-May-6
  57. YOUNG DAVID REESE JR 2LT ARMY FAIRBANKS 15-Mar-68

I served in the U.S. Army as a Combat Medic, from 1979 to 1982.  I understood my heritage, and I honor those who served and all those who went before me.

Date: 1966
Title: A Medic and fellow soldier of the First Cavalry Division.
Source: Photo by Henri Huet, REQUIEM By The Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina, Random House 1997

Source, and more right here on: http://www.ngl.org/Home/tabid/40/Default.aspx

Contending for Our Faith

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our(F) common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you(G) to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 1:3, ESV

 

The Book of Jude is jammed with warnings and words of direction.  As we read though it, we are directed to understand that people who live sinfully are in mortal danger.  We check ourselves, and monitor our hearts to discern them.  Jude seems to reflect to us that the darkness out there is pervasive and a mite dangerous.

As we read this book, we should be lifted up in our confidence and boldness. We should find ourselves in a reasonable assurance.  However, Jude speaks out about a flood of darkness that is rolling right up to the very foundations of the Church.  Much of this small letter seems pessimistic.  But Jude in certain spots definitely gives us hope and encouragement.

There is a lot of personal reasons that I like this book .  Jude is one of the few books we can read in one sitting.  It also contains verses that are incredibly edifying.  We reach out for these promises and we find a good, strong rope to help us advance.

Jude tells his readers to be aware, and also to contend.  He really doesn’t want us to be argumentative.  But he does want us to ‘lock down’ and hold our positions.  Our faith has been handled and held by the generations before us.  Grandmas, and Aunties, and their parents, and parents of parents.  They all held our faith and stood boldly for the faith in Christ. 

It is now in our feeble hands, and its our turn.  We are called to ‘contend’ for our faith.  We stand in one spot against the darkness,  and we establish ourselves and refuse to compromise.  We stand against so much evil, but our faith should not erode.

The saints  from generations past had a have an aggressive brand of faith.  And the life we have experienced so far has been the life they also lived.  Day by day, their lives opened up for them, and they decided to live for God.  But their days could be very tedious, and they knew of them just as we know.  Believe it or not, tedium can be a difficult mindset to live in.

It is vitally important that we become ‘contenders’ of our faith.  That we stand in place while the flood water surge around us.  When the flood slams against us, will we stand at that moment?  Will we stay in our spot, when things get crazy and unrecognizable?  I have experienced first-hand a real flood,  and it comes with a powerful force, knocking down trees and buildings with no effort at all.

The Believer of today, has a tremendous amount of thinking to do.  Will we go against evil and ‘contend’ that our faith is real and that it is significant?  Will we stay rooted in the flood, and lift up the torch of faith?  He stands to see what you will do.  He despatches power and grace for our comfort and strength.

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