1st - Loyalty Day
National Day of Prayer, "I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me." - Psalm 16:8
7th - Unconditional surrender of all German forces signed, 1945
8th - V-E DAY declared, 1945
11th - MOTHER'S DAY - "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her... Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman taht feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." - Proverbs 31: 28, 30.
17th - Armed Forces Day - Remember all who serve our country and as we pray all verterans will be honored.
26th - Memorail Day observed
30th - THE MEMORIAL DAY - "Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a euffle of drums, A flash of color the sky; Hats off! The flag is passing by! Blue and crimson and white it shines, Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines. Hats off! The colors before us fly; But more than the flag is passing by. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!" God bless America! God bless all who serve our great nation, and those who have served her in the past. Amen!
A Sunday School teacher asked her class, "Do any of you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?"
"NO," replied David, "How could he, he only had two worms."
July 27 on the VFW annual calendar is designated as "National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day", marking the end of "our"war in 1953.
Many of us in ASA Korea were on duty in Korea on this memorable day. Others had already served their time and had rotated home. Regardless, where we were onthat fateful day, it is a date to remember....and to hold 'hallow'.
ASA Korea from when it was founded in 1966 by (President Emeritus) Andy Kavalecs, and the late (good friend) Dalton Harper, now includes a membership exceeding 600 ASA veterans. In October, 2006, we will gather for our 11th annual reunion. I do pray all members will make a concerted effort to attend this 11th reunion, so we can rejoice again together in the fellowship and glory that was (and still is in many hearts and memories), The United States Army Security Agency. We were The Chosen Few; a support unit dedicated to signal intelligence ....intelligence that is so meaningful today in protecting our great nation from terrorists and would-be dictators.
AMERICA
"God has been good to men. He gave
His Only Son their souls to save,
And then He made a second gift,
Which from their dreary lives should lift
The tyrant's yoke and set them free
From all who'd throttle liberty.
He gave America to men --
Fashioned this land we love, and then
Deep in her forest sowed the seed
Which was to serve man's earthly need....
America! the land we love!
God's second gift from Heaven above,
Builded and fashioned out of truth,
Sinwed by Him with splendid youth
For that great day when shall be furled
All tyrant flags throughout the world.
For this our banner holds the sky:
That liberty shall never die.
For this, America began:
To make a brotherhood of man."
And from our Soldier's Prayer Book, page 91...
"Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe psrtake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Our fathers' God , to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King. Amen."
Enjoy your Veterans' status! Love God, and love your family! Pray for PEACE!
Try to attend our 2006 reunion in October and meet old friends.....
God bless you all! Amen and Amen
FAITH is an aptitude which can increase in strength and improve in quality when properly exercised. The greatest faith one can achieve is the ability to believe when God's voice is silent and His hand is still. A victim of the German Holocaust scratched these words into the crumbling wall of his home before his death: I BELIEVE IN THE SUN, EVEN WHEN IT DOES NOT SHINE; I BELEIVE IN LOVE, EVEN WHEN IT IS NOT SHOWN; I BELIEVE IN GOD, EVEN WHEN HE DOES NOT SPEAK.....
CLICK .HERE
Some of us may have had a Father or close relative who served in World War One. I remember a couple of 'old' men in my home town who were veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish American. One of these gave me when I was about five an old squirrel rifle he used fighting for the Union in the 1860's.
Each year on Decoration Day (now Memorial Day), May 30, we would parade and gather at local cemeteries 'decorating' the graves of long gone veterans with flowers and markers.
Now, we are the Veterans of other wars. A few of our members served for a time in World War Two while most of us served in Korea, Vietnam and some 'peace-keeping' areas around the world. We were the United States Army Security Agency, a proud bunch of GI's chosen to be involved with Top Secret Cryptographic Intelligence, which included several 'military occupation specialties' (MOS). For the most part, we were the sons of the Great Depression, whether we were 'RA' or 'US", we were all the same.
We no longer as a nation observe Memorial Day on May 30, unless it falls on the last Monday of the month. Modern convenience has invaded our traditions.
No matter when we remember our fellow veterans, we can look to the Holy Scriptures, regardless of faith. For the Bible is non-denominational in many ways.
As we remember our fellow Army comrades, we can find solace in Joshua 1:9, "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."
For our friends who served in the Navy or the Coast Guard, read Psalm 95:5, "THe sea id HIS, and HE made it."
For those from the Air Force, Psalm 104:3, "Who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind."
And, for our present day children in the military whether at home or in distant lands, let us pray for a 'Suffering World':
Our heavenly Father, we would associate ourselves with Thy children across the world in prayer on behalf of all men and women now under arms and in training, also for the wounded, for the dying, for the mourning, for those prisoners and missing, and for the refugees driven from their homes. Keep all these under Your protection, dear Lord, and bring to an end all racial and political strife wherever it exists in this, Thy world. Give Thy wisdom and power to all peace-lovers and apostles of reconciliation so they work toward the realiztion of a just, righteous and enduring peace.
Thy kingdom come, O God, in earth as it is in heaven.
"Our father's God , to thee,
Author of liberty, To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light:
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King. Amen."
God be with you all, and yours,
Rev. Charlie "Preacher" Knappenberger, Chaplain, ASA Korea
God and soldier, all men adore,
In times of war, and nevermore.
In time of peace, when all is righted,
God is forgotten, and the soldier
slighted.
For many years our battles in Korea were called "the forgotten war." During the past couple of decades that word 'forgotten' has taken on less sting, as Korean War Veterans Memorials have sprung up all over our "land of the free and home of the brave" not only in Washington, DC, but in states and counties and cities and towns throughout America.
But, all the memorials in the world will not ease the pain of Gold-Star Mothers and Wives, or return broken bodies to pre-war condition, nor relieve the unknown of those MIA.
To paraphrase the Duke of Wellington," If you have but seen one day of war, you would pray Almighty God never to see any such thing again."
We are at war again, and we have been involved in several wars since the "police action" of our youth. Let us pray Almighty God to intercede in the craziness of those peoples who wish to wage war and destruction on their neighbors and nations in other parts of their world. Let us be reminded of the word from the prophet Micah "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
May those thoughts from God's Holy Word abide with us and with all members of God's Creation, through Christ Our Lord. Amen and Amen.
THE AMERICAN'S CREED
By William Tyler Page, 1918
"I beleive in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therfore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies."
(I remember as a young boy reading this Creed posted on the center wall of our grand YMCA in Mauch Chunk, PA. God bless us all!)
God Bless ASA Veterans!
God Bless America!
Eternal God, our Father, through whose mighty power our forefathers built this "land of the free and home of the brave", Grant, we beseech Thee, that all peoples of this land may have grace to maintain the liberties we enjoy in righteousness and peace. We pray, dear Lord of heaven and earth, that You will assist and protect all those who at home or abroad are serving this nation. Arm them with Thy defence when they face the terrible perils of war and loneliness. Fill them with the wisdom of Thy mercy and gird them with the strength of Thy mighty hand, so they may do their duty to Thy honor and glory.
Be with the ones who become wounded in body and soul; receive into Your eternal kingdom the souls of the fallen and comfort their families. In all we and they do, O God, grant us Your gift of loyalty to home and country (our "one nation under God"), and reverence and devotion for our Churches and Synagogues, ......... in everything, dear Lord, make us true to Thee, in the name of Jesus Christ.....Amen and Amen.
"Eternal Father of love and power, Our brethren shield in danger's hour; From rock and tempest, fire and foe, Protect them where-so-e'er they go, Thus ever let there rise to Thee Glad hymns of praise from land and sea."