THANK YOU

I hope you have enjoyed this week with me. I have learned much from my guests and I hope you have as well.
When I first set out to write Yesterday's Tomorrow, I wasn't really sure what I was getting into. I knew I would have to do my research. I didn't know much about war. Didn't really know how I felt about it. Some days I didn't want to write the book at all.
It was too terrifying.
But as I researched and read and learned, I found countless stories of men and women who possessed a courage I'd never imagined. Men and women who left their families and loved ones, left all they knew and stepped into hell, who sacrificed so much - I wanted to know why. Why would they do that? Why leave the comfort of home for a sweltering jungle? Why take up arms against foreign men in foreign lands? Why die for the sake of freedom?

Like Kristin in my book, I had many questions. Many doubts. And, like Kristin, I found there were no easy answers.
Most of the accounts I read from those who served all said the same thing. No regrets. They served because it was the right thing to do. Not because it was easy. Not because it was honorable. But because it was right.
There are always two sides to every story. There were those who were drafted. Those who protested. Those who ran.
But those who served, even when they were no longer sure what the right thing was anymore, they deserve our honor and our respect.

I'm still not sure I have a definite answer on how I really feel about war. It's ugly. It leaves scars. It kills. But it exists. It is reality. And as long as it is, there will be those who are called to fight. And really, whether we agree on the concept of war or not, we should all agree that they are out there doing what many of us could never do.
So how do we reconcile all this as Christians? What is it like for those who believe to go out and kill another human being? I asked those questions a lot during the writing of my novel. I write from a Christian worldview, so I knew this was something I needed to address. Yet once again, I found no easy answers. The best I could come up with is written here, in a discussion that Kristin has with her brother Teddy, who is serving in Vietnam.

He reached for her hands. "Have you stopped being mad at God?"
Kristin pinched her lips together. Where was God in all this madness? 
The prayers she muttered when she felt the need seemed  futile.  Since coming to Vietnam, she’d seen nothing to convince her God even existed.  
“Not really. I’m more confused than ever. You know what it’s like out there.
You’ve seen the death, the destruction. How can you  sit there,  knowing what’s going on up in those hills, and tell me God is okay with all this? 
That He loves us?”  
“Kris.” He tightened his grip on her hands, his eyes filled with a light she didn’t understand. 
“God didn’t make this war. We did.”  Clear determination and passion shone from his eyes.
“When I think about this  war, think about the guys on the frontlines, I can’t help but think of Jesus. ‘No greater love has a man who lays down his life for his friends.’  That’s what the guys out there  are doing for us, Kris. None of this makes sense,  I  know, but it makes even less sense without Him.” 
Respect for her brother and what he was doing out here overrode any  counterargument she could make. “I love you, Teddy.”  
And perhaps, in some way, he was right.  
Perhaps there really was no greater cost.

We may never have the answers to all the questions we ask. Maybe we're not supposed to.
However you feel about war, I urge you to remember those who serve. Pray for them. Remember their loved ones. Pray for them. Remember to say thank you.
They are laying their lives down for us. For me. For you.
For our freedom.
And for that, thank you is not enough.
But it's all we have.
So to all our Veterans, those lost to us and those present, those who still serve, and their families today, on this Remembrance Day, THANK YOU and MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE.

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Lest We Forget...

Today it is an honor to have author Don Brown here on my blog. Not only is Don a prolific author, he is also a proud Veteran. And an aside, one of the first male guinea-pigs...er...readers of my novel, Yesterday's Tomorrow. Thankfully for me, he liked it!

Don has something special to share with us today regarding The Korean War, and I hope it will serve to enlighten and educate you the same as it did for me.

VETERANS DAY 2011
REMEMBER OUR KOREAN WAR VETS AND MIAS
By Don Brown

This Veterans Day, as we thankfully remember those who have served, and reflect upon the time-honored truth that “freedom isn’t free,” I ask that we remember, especially, our American Vets who served in Korea.
We are now approaching the sixtieth anniversary of the Korean War.
As you know Zondervan has just released my newest novel, Thunder in the Morning Calm, which is a story about Americans left behind in that war, and a grandson’s determination to find out what happened to his grandfather.

It had always bothered me that Korea is called such things as “The Forgotten War,” or a “UN Police Action.”
Such foolish banter deflects well-deserved recognition from our guys who served there, who, in liberating South Korea, achieved one of the greatest victories in American military history. So I purposed to write Thunder to honor those Americans who liberated South Korea from communist totalitarianism.
But as I began my research, I discovered some facts that are mind-blowing!

Let me cut to the chase.
We left Americans in North Korean prison camps at the end of the war, but denied their existence. For a period of sixty years, there have been numerous spotting of elderly Americans in North Korea! Although statistically it’s unlikely, it’s possible that some are still being held there.

Consider the following:

Over Four Times As Many Americans are
Missing in Korea then Vietnam

Over 8000 Americans were missing or unaccounted for at the end of the Korean War in 1953. Here’s what’s incredible about that number. This is over four times as many as the approximately 1600 missing from our wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia combined! Bear in mind that American involvement in the Vietnam War lasted over fifteen years, from 1959 – 1975.

So we have 8200 missing from Korea over a three-year period, versus 1600 missing from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos over a fifteen-year period.

What’s wrong with this picture? What happened to all our Korean MIAs?

When the war ended, North Korea denied that it had any live American or South Korean prisoners. The United States denied that any POWs were still there.
But for nearly sixty years, many reports have surfaced of sightings of both American and South Korean POWs still in the north.

Eisenhower Presidential Library
Admits Americans Left in North Korean Camps

In 1996, the Eisenhower Presidential Library dropped a bombshell when it released previously-classified documents revealing that in 1953, when the Korean War ended, the US Government was aware of at least 900 Americans still being held by North Korea, which contradicted the U.S. Government’s position in 1953 that there were no such Americans in captivity in the North. This, in and of itself, is a travesty and a disservice to the truth.

Clinton Administration Official Resigns
Over MIA issue in North Korea

Then, in 1998, more shock. Two South Korean POWs from the Korean War escaped North Korea, directly refuting the North’s lie that it had no American or South Korean prisoners in its custody. About that same time, a senior Clinton Administration official handling the Korean POW/MIA issue resigned because so many reports of American POWs still alive could not be refuted.
Unfortunately, neither the Clinton nor the Bush Administrations pursued the issue meaningfully, and neither has the Obama Administration.

Reports of Americans alive in the North have surfaced as recently as 2006.

There is now no doubt, as proven by documents released by the Eisenhower Presidential Library, that this country left Americans behind the lines in North Korea, and untruthfully denied that fact for many, many years.
There is also little question that at least some of those Americans lived for many years, forgotten and abandoned by their country.

Could Some Still Be Alive?

Is it possible that some may still be alive?
To put the timeline in perspective, in 1938, seventy-five years after the Battle of Gettysburg, some 8000 veterans of the Civil War were still alive!
By contrast, we have not yet reached the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice, which will occur in 2013.
Any surviving Americans still left there would probably be in their eighties. Perhaps it is unlikely that any are still alive, assuming the difficulty of surviving that long in harsher conditions, but certainly possible.
I’m passionate about the sacrifice of our Korean Vets, and the missing plight of our over 8000 American MIAs there.

It’s inexcusable that this country has forgotten them, and I wrote this novel, in part, hoping that someone would give some thought to the plight of missing Americans of Korea.
As you remember all our veterans on this Veterans Day of 2011, please join me in a special remembrance and prayer for our Korean Vets and our Americans missing in North Korea.
Don Brown
LCDR, JAGC, USNR
1984 - 1992

DON BROWN, a former U.S. Navy JAG Officer, is the author of Zondervan’s riveting NAVY JUSTICE SERIES, a dynamic storyline chronicling the life and adventures of JAG officer ZACK BREWER. In 2003, Don began writing TREASON, his first novel in the NAVY JUSTICE SERIES.

Don has graciously offered to giveaway a copy of his latest novel, Thunder In The Morning Calm. Leave a comment for Don for a chance to win!

A Bit Of History

Today it's my pleasure to introduce you to Karen Whiting. Karen is an author, speaker and a military wife and mother. Among Karen's many accomplishments is her upcoming book, Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front of American Wars. Not yet released, (April 2012) Karen has been kind enough to give us a sneak peek right here!


The shells were bursting in every direction and there seemed little hope of us crossing the parade ground in safety. We did so however and remained until after the surrender. My husband, Col. Snelling, was taken prisoner, and I accompanied him to Fort Erie.

Abigail’s words described a battle of the War of 1812 that occurred several days after her wedding.
After studying and writing about military families for my upcoming book on the home front of American Wars, especially wives, Abigail left a great impression. One of America’s early military brats Abigail survived being an orphan, married a military man, became a widow, and survived the heat of battle.
Abigail’s father served in the American Revolution and she moved for the first time at six weeks, in 1797. She lived a life of frequent moves and changes. And par for many military moves, orders changed on route and instead of heading to Indiana they switched directions and moved to Fort Mackinaw. Thankfully the former occupants of the quarters left all the furnishings.
In 1808, stationed in Missouri, Abigail faced excitement and sorrow. She met Lewis and Clark on their return from their great west expedition and shortly after her parents succumbed to fever and died. Abigail’s older brother moved her to Boston to her grandmother’s home, after staying at the home of General Harrison to rest (later President Harrison). A few years later, she moved in with her brother in Detroit. Soon after arriving in Detroit Abigail met and married Capt. Josiah Snelling, a hero of Tippecanoe.

Once the British captured her husband, Abigail and the other wives rushed to catch the ship holding her husband prisoner, leaving behind all their luggage. In Montreal a prisoner exchange took place that freed her husband. She survived many more moves, lived several years in a rustic log cabin on the frontier in Minnesota until her husband completed the building of Fort Snelling. Abigail’s hired nursemaid remarked that entertainment at Fort Snelling was very selective and aristocratic and the household decorated with good taste.
Abigail read the classics, poetry, and history and spoke fluent French. Gen. Edmond P. Gaines, an Italian explorer wrote of his visit to Fort Snelling that Abigail Snelling made him forget he was in the wilderness. Abigail, concerned about faith, ran the Sunday school at Fort Snelling. One of her sons described his mother as a compassionate woman, and indulging mother with beautiful hair that nearly reached to the ground. A brave, resourceful woman, Abigail once ran out to the parade grounds, grabbed a bucket of milk from a soldier, and ran back inside her quarters to douse a fire in her children’s bedroom.
In 1825 Josiah Snelling purchased a farm in Detroit while on leave. He died a few years later and she moved to Detroit and settled on the farm, at twenty-nine. She spent years petitioning for a military pension as a widow. Some of her brothers and children also served in the military.
Abigail learned to enjoy the best moments as a military wife as well as to survive the worst scenarios. She later married a minister but he died five years after they wed. Her children loved and cherished her, and she lived with various during her years of widowhood.
Today’s military wives are also often very accomplished and hospitable, as well as brave and resourceful. Examples of previous generations remind us that military life is not easy but the support of family and faith is part of what strengthens our soldiers.

You can find Karen on the web and on Facebook Leave a comment for Karen today for a chance to win one of her books!

Monday Devotion by Edie Melson

To kick off our week in honor of Veteran's Day, Edie Melson joins us to share a devotion from her new book, Fighting Fear - Winning The War At Home When Your Soldier Leaves For Battle.

Here's a little about Edie and why she wrote this book:

Saying goodbye to a loved one leaving for war is a gut-wrenching proposition. But for those left behind it’s also the start of their own battle. Edie Melson’s oldest son went straight from high school to Marine Corps boot camp to Iraq, where he served as an infantry Marine during two tours. She knows firsthand, the fear and helplessness that affect those close to a soldier at war. She also knows it’s possible to find God’s peace and conquer the fear that ambushes when least expected.

This book is a compilation of true stories of how others dealt with the fear that stalked them through their soldier’s deployments, as well as devotions designed to point the reader to the true source of strength, God.

Edie understands what it is to face adversity and come out triumphant on the other side. Her years as a wife, mother and ministry leader have given her a unique perspective to reach out to others facing the same struggles. As a full-time writer, she’s always concentrated on telling the stories of others. In this book, she continues with those stories, but also shares her own challenges and the way God gave her the strength to endure.

As a sought after writing instructor, her heart to help others define and reach their dreams has connected her with writers all over the country. She also speaks at numerous women’s events, from conferences to retreats. You can visit her at www.EdieMelson.com or www.WinningtheWarAtHome.com.
She’s a member of multiple civic and professional organizations, including the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Blue Star Mothers, The Christian Pen, and American Christian Fiction Writers.
Married 30 years to her high school sweetheart, Kirk, they have raised three sons.



Keep Him Safe
By Edie Melson

And my God will supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:17

When our son joined the Marine Corps, I had to face every parent’s biggest fear, that one of my children might die. I knew he’d face deployment in the Middle East—that was why he’d joined—and that I couldn’t keep him safe. This was tough, because keeping him (along with my other two sons) safe had been my goal for a long time. And all things counted, I hadn’t done too bad a job of it.
But facing his deployment made me examine my belief that I’d spent the last 18 years keeping him safe. Could I really claim that? I’d given him the tools to make wise decisions, and I’d been around to prevent some mishaps, but not many. Had I truly equipped him to face what was ahead?
That night, while I wrestled with this fear, I realized my thoughts were just another attempt at control. I’d equipped . . . I’d given . . . I’d prevented. In reality, I hadn’t been the one to equip, give or prevent. God had. Oh, He’d allowed me to help on occasion, but He’d been the one who’d orchestrated events to prepare my son for life. It was a good thing, too. I had no idea where my son’s life was headed. I could make some guesses, but so far my track record wasn’t good. But God’s track record was perfect.
This verse in Philippians came immediately to mind, giving me comfort and peace. I could count on God’s promises to not only be true in my life, but also in my children’s lives.

Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home, published by Christian Devotions Ministry. Used by permission.