Posted by:
bobcat
(
)
Date: October 11, 2010 09:15PM
Picture this, it's the mid 1950's, my dad (God love him!) was a United States Marine Corps Drill Instructor, new convert of about a couple of years & a survivor of the Chosin Reservoir Campaign in North Korea, 1950-51, sitting next to Mom in a Sunday School class. The lesson was on the modern temples, the blessings that come with it, the protection which the endowed are afforded by the garments, etc.
One tearful sister raised her hand & stated,"If temple garments really protect the endowed, I don't understand why my son died in Korea."
My practical-minded D.I. Dad who was a lot like Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the movie Full-Metal Jacket (Dad never used the "f" word, but did use all other cuss words!), raised his hand & offered, "I'd like to answer that," & the Sunday School teacher gave him the floor.
"Well, you see sister, I can tell you what happened. A bullet went right through him. It'll do that, garments or not!"
You could hear the entire SS class attendees breath in one long gasp together except the sister whose son had been KIA. To that sister's everlasting credit, she accepted Dad's simple explanation, basically because he didn't give some lame-ass excuse like, "God called your son home," or "It was his time to go." Rather, he explained it in a matter-of-fact way that temple garments are not bullet-proof. She didn't want platitudes; she wanted the truth.
Everybody else in the SS class thought my Dad's explanation was callous, not that he gave a damn what they thought, mind you! It was talked about at church for years.