memorial day - better late than never.

the man on the right is my grandpa verl franklin scott.

for memorial day, we went up to my family cabin in oakley. sunday night my dad did a lil devotional on grandpa scott. he read to us from grandpa's war journals from WWII. grandpa started out as a 2nd lieutenant of field artillery fighting the front lines against the japanese in the Philippines.

dad told us the story about tommy toole - one of grandpa's best friends. one day, while things were quiet on the front, tommy snuck over to grandpa's foxhole to visit with him. grandpa needed to leave to get something real quick. within seconds of leaving his hole, a japanese mortar landed in his hole and killed his best friend.

grandpa had this to say about it: "what an empty feeling i had when i returned to the foxhole and saw what had happened; but i thanked the Lord that day and every day since that i was one who was protected throughout all my military time.”

grandpa is on the left closest to tommy's grave, dedicating it.

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one of grandpa's jobs was to survey the battlefield after each battle. grandpa didn't see the japanese as evil. they were children of God, fighting for their country as much as we were. one battle in particular, all of the japanese men were killed, and the majority of grandpa's boys were too. he went out and collected a few of the japanese flags that they kept tucked in their uniforms over their hearts. dad brought those flags up to the cabin. along with the signatures of every man in their company, there was also blood, and bullet holes on each flag. what a tragedy... what a great opportunity for us to put ourselves in another's shoes.

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grandpa later went on to serve during the occupation of japan. he was in charge of collecting military arms from the people there. he said this: "i will never forget the stark, solemn faces of the japanese people as we rode on the trucks through the bombed-out streets, where the only things left standing were the safes that had been in the buildings. everything else was completely destroyed.”

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after the war was over, awards were given and grandpa began his life of working for the church, he never forgot about the experiences he had on those islands in the pacific. my dad told us about when grandpa went back to japan to pick dad up from his mission. grandpa never allowed anyone to forget the truth about divine heritage. every person on this earth is a son or daughter of the most powerful, loving God.

this reminds me of one of my favorite quotes given by one of my favorite people: "there has come to you as your birthright something beautiful and sacred and divine. never forget that. your Eternal Father is the great Master of the universe. He rules over all, but He also will listen to your prayers as His daughter and hear you as you speak with Him. He will answer your prayers. He will not leave you alone." - g.b. hinckley

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a few years before grandpa died, he served as the MTC president of the MTC in the phillipines. he was going back. but this time to serve the lord...

i was not able to spend much time with my grandpa, but there are three things i know about him: 1. he loved God 2. he loved this country, and 3. he loved his family. he let nothing get in the way of those three passions

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"although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored." -daniel webster