On the heels of last year’s powerful “hope” tribute to veterans who gave their life in service to our nation, this year, Major Chris Schimke, Operations Officer of the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 196th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Sioux Falls illuminated “faith” as a guiding theme during the Memorial Day service held at Prospect Hill Cemetery Monday.
“Those of you who attended last year’s Memorial Day services at Hope Cemetery will know that my comments last year were centered around ‘hope’ and its meaning to service members,” Schimke began. “This year I will speak about ‘faith.’ Not just faith in the Lord but also the faith we as a nation placed on the fallen in this cemetery — and the faith they placed on us and how we can best honor them.”
He continued to explain that faith and hope are complimentary.
“Faith is grounded in the reality of the past; hope is looking to the reality of the future. Without faith, there is no hope, and without hope there is no true faith.”
He then explored that concept, delving into our history as a nation and the great deal of faith the public has put in the armed forces.
“This faith has been built through past performance – faith is grounded in the reality of the past. How was this faith built?”
He continued: “Soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines build our nation’s faith in them through training. Regular training creates proficiency. Proficiency promotes confidence. Confidence enables success and repeated success results in trust.”
Which led Schimke to share a moving equation, “Confidence + Trust = Faith. Those that we are remembering today went through the process of building confidence, gaining trust, and developing faith in their teammates, their machines and their weapons, their leadership and faith in their nation. This faith was crucial for them, because for what other reason would they have performed their duty?”
He went on to explore current challenges and how this equation of faith can be used to overcome difficulty.
“We remember those fallen today because they had faith that our nation would grow and progress. From 1776 until today the fallen had no idea what our nation would become or how it would look,” he stated. “ The challenges of the past were not always easily overcome, our current challenges will not be easily overcome, but faith in our nation’s eventual success makes it possible to continue to search for ways to overcome difficulty as a nation.”
Schimke ended with a call to action in order for us to stay true to their faith in us: “We need to be the Americans their Memorial Day deserves.”
He then described what that may look like to the large, engaged crowd.
“Be an engaged American: Exercise your right to vote, respect the opinion of others, participate in our society, educate yourself about issues we face as a nation. Speak for those who have no voice but listen with an intent to understand, not just respond. Volunteer your time, support your local community, go to a little league baseball game and cheer for your team not just against the opponent,” he implored. “Be an American they would have faith in.”