I am not sure this generation really understands the price that needs to be paid for freedom. I am currently reading "Inferno", by Sir Max Hastings. It is a rather large book on World War II. As I read it, I am reminded of the horrors of war and the sacrifice made by people on the home front to provide for the troops in the field.
My father was a fighter pilot in the early years of the Vietnam War. He flew an F-8 Crusader off the USS Hancock. He was a legitimate war hero for his extraordinary courage in the face of danger. Here is a picture of an F-8 Crusader of my father's squadron, VF-211:
Here is an account of the incident that earned him the Navy's highest honor:
On 21 June 1966, the Crusaders mixed it up with MiGs again. Navy Crusaders were providing escort and performing reconnaissance on that day, and when an RF-8A was shot down, Crusaders vectored in on the location to provide cover for the pilot, who had ejected successfully and was waiting for a search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter.
The Crusaders were at low altitude and low on fuel when they were bounced themselves by MiG-17s. Lieutenant Gene Chancey hit a MiG with cannon fire at close range during the mixup, tearing off his opponent's wing. However, the MiGs also scored hits on the Crusader piloted by Chancey's flight leader, Lieutenant Commander Cole Black, and Black was forced to eject.
Lieutenant JG Phil Vampatella's Crusader had been hit by flak earlier, but he was still in the fight. A MiG got stuck on his tail and Vampatella had to engage afterburner and run for it. The slower MiG broke off the attack. Even though Vampatella was low on fuel and had problems turning due to his battle damage, he decided to turn back and engage the MiG. He fired a Sidewinder that detonated behind the MiG and sent it into the ground.
Vampatella was "breathing fumes" when he managed to get a tanker on station just off the coast. However, the tanker was low on fuel, too, and Vampatella was just able to make it back to his carrier, the USS HANCOCK, with no fuel to spare for a second go-round. On inspection, he discovered that his Crusader had been hit in the tail by a 37 millimeter flak round and was peppered with small shrapnel holes. Vampatella won the Navy Cross for the action.
This was a few months before my oldest sister was born. My father risked his life for his friends knowing full well that his wife was due with their first baby, and that the baby could be born into a world without a father. He survived it, and three children came after the first. I am happy to report that my mother and father are doing well to this day. I am so proud to be the son of a father who has fought so bravely for our country, and of a mother who endured endless days not knowing if he would return home alive. Such is the price of freedom.
But you know, freedom on an even grander scale has been purchased for us as well. We are all burdened with the reality of a sinful nature, and we are, in fact, slaves to sin. But Jesus Christ came to set us free. Galatians 6:1 says, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
Christ purchased our freedom with his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection from the grave. He offers us this hard-won freedom if we would only receive it by faith, by trusting in Him alone. This weekend let us all remember the price that hundreds of thousands of Americans have paid in order that we may be free; but even more than that, remember the sacrifice of God's Son, so that we may be free from the bondage of sin forever and may have eternal life through Him.
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