The correct answer is: To honor those who have died while serving this country in the military–most often in a time of war defending our country. In other words, in the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, Memorial Day is to honor those who have given “the last full measure of devotion” to protect the freedoms we have as Americans.

It’s a sobering to think of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people who have died defending our country and our “way of life.” Freedom has a very high price indeed. Or, as the saying goes: Freedom is never free.

The roots of this holiday stretch all the way back to the Civil War. Although the exact beginning is not known, the practice began (likely in the South) of decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers. The practice spread throughout the country, both North and South, and it became known as Decoration Day. In 1868 General John Logan signed General Order No. 11 making May 30th the official day to decorate the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. I recall living in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s and visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. Each and every grave in the cemetery is marked with a U.S. flag–a tradition started in the 1950s. The cemetery is patrolled constantly 24 hours/day over the weekend to ensure every flag stays standing. Arlington has hundreds of thousands of graves.

The North and South celebrated their own memorial (or decoration) days until after World War I. It seems it took that long–a generation–for the country to become unified enough to celebrate together.

My most vivid memory of Memorial Days past goes back to my high school years, in the late 1970s. I attended a small Christian school in rural Upstate New York called Holmesville Christian Academy. Each year our school would create a float for South New Berlin’s Memorial Day parade (the nearby local town, population 2,800). One year, we performed a “live” reenactment of Iwo Jima. I was one of the four soldiers in frozen repose raising the American flag. I think that float touched the people who observed it–at least that was the feedback.

That particular Memorial Day in the late 1970s was unusually hot. My best friend and schoolmate Kevin Daniels and I went fishing at nearby Chenango Lake after the parade. I don’t recall who caught the most fish that day, but it’s a pretty good bet it was Kevin. I do remember getting sunburned, being out on the water in a small boat for most of the afternoon. Kevin and I always had fun. I have fond memories of those times.

Kevin is now gone. He died in a tragic accident 13 years ago. I don’t think a week goes by that I don’t think about about Kevin and the good times we had. Neither he nor I ever joined the military. But perhaps you will indulge me just a bit if today I not only remember and commemorate America’s best and finest who have fallen in battle, but if I also remember and commemorate my friend Kevin and the tremendous impact he had with his too short life here on earth.

Oh, the name of the college I attended? It was a little NCAA Division 2 southern school called Liberty University. Today, it’s a big NCAA Division 1 school, and the debate team from Liberty has been number one–first!–in overall standings in the National Debate Tournament for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. They beat out all other universities in the U.S., including Harvard, Yale and over 200 other schools.

This year Liberty was number two. And who, you may ask, was number one? Binghamton University! Hey, if anyone is going to beat out Liberty, BU is a good choice in my book. A hearty congrats to the team at BU for a job very well done. You can read about it here: BU honors its top-ranked, 22-member debate team.

Now, if we could only get our area high schools to start up a local debate tournament…

Technorati Tags: Liberty University debate team, Binghamton University debate team

My recent trip to London started some 25 years ago. Bear with me…there is a point to this missive! In the fall of 1983 I was a young intern working at The White House. How on earth did I get there? The short version is while attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, my political science professor, Dr. Jerry Combee, selected me to fill a request that had come from The White House. They requested an intern specifically from Liberty–and I got chosen. That semester I traveled back and forth from Lynchburg to Washington, DC each week. I left Wednesday afternoon after classes, traveled to Washington any way I could get there (bus, car rides, one time I flew with Ron Godwin, President of the Moral Majority, in a private plane!), worked at The White House on Thursday and Friday and then got myself back to Lynchburg Friday evening. It was the chance of a lifetime and I took it. I thank God for smiling on me and providing me with such an opportunity.

The internship was in a department called Presidential Personnel, which was the equivalent of the President’s own personal employment agency. At that time, the Executive Branch (i.e. President Reagan) used Presidential Personnel to fill some 5,500 positions throughout the federal government from personal assitants (then called secretaries) all the way to cabinet secretaries. Our department processed boatloads of resumes, using (at that time) state of the art computers like the Digital VAX and IBM System/36. I used to write letters using an IBM Displaywriter with floppy disks as big as file folders!

Presidential Personnel consisted of some 40 people and was located in the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB) which sits immediately next to The White House and is part of The White House “complex.” I worked for the number two person in the department, Becky Norton Dunlop, who was the Deputy Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel. She was, and is, a true conservative and one of the greatest people you will ever meet in Washington, or anyplace else. Becky is now a Vice President at the Heritage Foundation and I stay in touch with her via email all these years later. Side note: She has a great husband too! George Dunlop was at that time (in 1983) the Chief of Staff for the Senate Agriculture Committee, a committee chaired by the great Senator Jesse Helms from North Carolina.

My job was to assist Becky. I answered phones, read and clipped newspapers, wrote letters, searched resumes to fill positions and ran errands to other departments (sometimes even into the West Wing). Not long after I started my internship, in October of 1983, this country faced serious threats abroad and close to home. Our Marine base in Lebanon was bombed by terrorists and hundreds died. There was also trouble in a small island nation called Grenada, located just off the coast of Venezuela in South America. In 1979 the government of Grenada was overthrown by leftists with ties to the Soviet Union and Cuba. In 1983 the situation was rapidly deteriorating and about 100 American students attending a medical school in Grenada were in jeopardy of being taken hostage like our diplomats in Iran were a few years ealier. President Reagan did not shy from the situation nor did he attempt to “talk” his way out of it (as liberals always have and still do advocate). Reagan took action. He invaded that country with 7,000 troops where we found a strong (and growing) military base backed by Cuba and the Soviets. It was a good thing we entered that country when we did and returned it to a constitutional democracy, which still stands today.

So what does that have to do with my trip to London? Stay with me! Two days after the invasion of Grenada, on October 27, 1983, President Reagan went on national television to discuss the recent tragedy in Lebanon, and the invasion of Grenada. It was an exceptional speech–a Reagan speech. I watched it on television with my boss Becky as we sat in her office in the OEOB. (It was cool thinking that just across the street the President was actually giving that speech live!) When the speech was done, we walked to her car, parked in the lot between the OEOB and the West Wing, to head home. Off-the-cuff Becky said, “Come with me.” And I followed. We entered the West Wing (showing our badges), walked up the back steps, passing James Baker, the Chief of Staff, and entered one of the corner offices in the West Wing. This particular corner office belonged to none other than Edwin Meese, III, Counsellor to the President. He was at that time President Reagan’s chief policy advisor.

Becky introduced me to Mr. Meese and I shook his hand. He offered me a glass of sherry–which I politely refused. Hey, I was a student at Liberty! And Baptists don’t drink alcohol you see. He proceeded to tell Becky and me what the President had just said moments ago when the cameras went dark following his speech. Ed Meese was actually in the Oval Office as the President gave the speech, and he discussed it with the President. Mr. Meese related to us how the President felt about the speech just delivered and about the current situation in Grenada.

One of my most vivid memories of that time, when I served first as an intern (and later when I was hired on staff at The White House), was that night in October. One thought ran through my head: “Welcome to Wonderland, Alice!” I marvelled at how a hick boy from Upstate New York could possibly be roaming the halls of power at the center of the political universe and the free world. I still marvel at the thought! And I thank Becky for giving me a precious memory that I will always cherish.

After serving the President as Counsellor, Ed Meese later became Attorney General. Although I visited Becky at the Justice Department (she later moved from The White House to Justice to serve Mr. Meese there), I never again had the pleasure of meeting Ed Meese after that night in October of 1983. Until last week.

Fast forward nearly 25 years. I flew from Binghamton to Dulles (Washington, DC) last Saturday and was waiting for my flight from Dulles to London to start boarding. First class had just started to board and I was standing near the entrance waiting for Economy to board when an elderly gentleman said, “Excuse me,” to the guy standing next to me. “Has the plane started to board yet?” he asked. The guy next to me told him First Class was already boarding. I happened to glance at this elderly gentleman and before I knew it, the words escaped my mouth: “Mr. Meese!” I said. He turned and said, “Yes?” I had to think quick! “My name is Jim Willis and I used to work for Becky Dunlop,” was my response. Ed Meese stuck his hand out to shake my hand and said, “Oh yes. Nice to meet you.” I think I said the same thing in return…can’t quite remember. And then he was gone to board the plane.

I looked around in wonderment, with a smile on my face. The vast majority of the hundreds of people standing there did not realize the former Attorney General of the United States and confidant of the greatest President of our lifetime was passing through. I noticed a couple who cornered him just before he entered the walkway to the plane. At least two other people noticed!

That chance meeting gave me a smile, brought back a flood of memories, and provided a good sendoff on what would be a very good business trip to London. Thank you Mr. Meese, for taking time to shake my hand and say a word or two. More importantly, thank you for your service to our country and to President Reagan. Like President Reagan, you are a true American hero.

Technorati Tags: London, Jerry Combee, Liberty University, The White House, White House intern, Presidential Personnel, Becky Norton Dunlop, Heritage Foundation, George S Dunlop, Grenada invasion, Edwin Meese, Dulles Airport

Today, I want to publicly thank my God for the generous gifts He has given to me. I believe there is a Creator God who “hung the stars in space” and who, amazingly, looked down through time and thought about–me. He decided when I would be born, and where, and what unique characteristics would be my makeup, my personality–all of it. So I credit God with ALL of the gifts He has given me.

In particular, I thank Him for the following…

Family has to top the list. I thank God for my wife and my children. They are so amazing. My wife puts up with a lot from me! But I know that we were meant to be together. Over the years two people, as the Bible says, truly become “one”. That is our marriage. It’s not perfect (we are human!)–but it’s as good as it gets here on earth. And my children–what can I say? We have three of the greatest kids on the planet. Sometimes I think my true purpose–the thing God created me for–was simply to be the father of these three great kids. You know, if I die and go to heaven and find out my real purpose here on earth was to be dad to these three great kids, I’ll be a happy man.

I’m thankful too for my mom and dad and my sister. They have always been my cheerleaders and encouragers. What a blessing to have grown up in my family in the countryside of beautiful Upstate New York. I owe my mom and dad my faith in God. They took me to church, and when I asked, sent me to a Christian school where I finished 9th through 12th grades. My mom instilled in me compassion for other people, and my dad instilled in me the drive to be excellent in all that I do. I owe them my eternal gratitude for giving me life, and giving me a solid foundation on which to build that life.

I thank God for my extended family–all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and in-laws. I don’t see them near enough, and when I do, it’s always sweet. What a great feeling it is to “re-connect” with family and friends you haven’t seen in a while.

Speaking of which, I thank God for my friends. Friends are so important. The older I get, the more I understand how the people around you–your friends–are one of the keys to happiness. I have a best friend from college (Lee) whom I stay in touch with. Who knew a kid from Upstate New York and a kid from South Carolina would become fast friends for life? Such is the greatness of our God who orders these things before time began. I also thank God for my church family and the many friends we have there (including good friends Don & Debby). Yes, we attend church to worship God…but we worship Him with our friends. I believe worship is supposed to be done in community–with friends. I am truly blessed with many of them at our church.

I am thankful for the jobs I’ve had where I made friends. Fresh out of college I went to work in Washington, DC. I stay in touch with my former boss Becky–she’s still a friend. I’ve stayed in touch with people from previous jobs I’ve held here in Binghamton (Brent, Bill, Sasha, Russ, Chuck, Bob). I went to work (and now hold a job) with friends from a previous job I held more than seven years ago! I thank God for my job working with a great group of people–some who are old friends from long ago, and some who are now new friends.

Do you see a theme here? I thank God for the people He has put in my life–so many of them I can’t possibly name them all in this brief article. Oh yes…I do thank Him sincerely for material blessings. A house, two vehicles, steady income. But frankly, those are secondary for me. First and foremost, I thank God for the people he has brought into my life that has made living here on earth such an interesting adventure.

If you read this on Thanksgiving Day, or a day or two later, stop and pause, and thank God for the people He has brought into your life.

Technorati Tags: Binghamton, Thanksgiving, friends, Upstate New York

I grew up in the Norwich, New York area in the 1960s & 70s. We lived outside of town, up in the hills, between Norwich and a little town called New Berlin (pronounced New Berlllyn, roll the Ls). It’s about an hour’s drive north from where I live today. Growing up in the country had it’s ups and downs–but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. I remember more than one winter growing up when there was enough snow on the ground that I could ride my snowmobile on Thanksgiving Day! All winter long I rode my Artic Cat over snow drifts, through the fields, and into the Whaupaunaucau State Forest which bordered our property. I fondly recall riding with my neighbor friends Danny Bates (also an Arctic Cat) and Troy Chawgo (die-hard Polaris family) until my face felt like it would fall off from the cold.

Seeing the snow this morning reminded me of my old Arctic Cat, and that brings a smile. After I left home to go to college in Virginia and later to Washington, DC (in the early 1980s), I sold that old snowmobile to my dad–a couple of different times! I’d wait a year or two and sell it to him again. But then he wised up one day and turned around and sold it to someone else. I guess when he finally sold that old snowmobile I knew I had grown up. Not that snowmobiles are just for kids. Selling that snowmobile somehow signified I had finally moved on and was establishing a life on my own.

Every now and again it’s fun to go back and visit the 1970s.

Technorati Tags: Binghamton, Norwich NY, Whaupaunaucau State Forest, Arctic Cat, snowmobile

So what does Dr. Falwell have to do with Greater Binghamton–other than being the ire of noted local leftist David Rossie? For one thing, I proudly attended Liberty University for three of my four years of undergraduate work. It is hard to overstate the profound impact LU had on me personally, and on others who attended. Contrary to misconceptions held by some, Jerry was a pretty open-minded individual. I had the opportunity to hear, in person, not only one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century (Francis Schaeffer), but also Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy. What! That’s right. Sen. Kennedy was a guest of Dr. Falwell’s, and gave a speech about abortion (pro- position) to the entire student body. You see, Jerry was not afraid to invite people from both sides of the political isle to have their say. Unlike those who sought to silence him in life, and now dance on his grave in death, Jerry did not seek to silence anyone. He welcomed a debate based on ideas and Scripture.

On one occasion, I got to field a question before the entire student body to (then) Vice President George H.W. Bush. Something about foreign policy as I recall. I got to joke with him briefly before the entire assembly. A real highlight for me. It was while at Liberty that my political science professor, Dr. Jerry Combee (Ph.D. Cornell University), breathlessly told me in the hall one day that, “I have an opportunity you WON’T refuse!” He was right. I got to be an intern in The White House and later worked there on staff–during the Reagan administration.

I traveled to Brazil on a missions trip one summer while at Liberty, spending a month flying from top to bottom, visiting cities like Sao Paulo and Rio, and remote parts like a Wycliffe Missionary base in the jungle. I had great professors while at Liberty, sometimes being invited to their houses for meals; and I had great friends. I met my best friend there. We’ve stayed friends for more than 20 years since leaving (he lives in South Carolina, I’m in Greater Binghamton). I can go on and on regaling you with stories of Liberty University and Jerry Falwell. But I will tell you just one more.

When I was a freshman and my parents came to visit–which is a long way to visit as Lynchburg is about 8 hours from where I grew up in Norwich, NY–I took them by the Falwell residence to show them where Jerry and his family lived. A supporter of his ministry had built a very nice house in Lynchburg for the Falwells, complete with a security fence around it. Even in the early 1980s Jerry had plenty of people threatening him. We drove up to the front gate to look through. As we were sitting there, Jerry himself, in a Chevy Suburban, drove up to the gate. He always drove by himself. He got out of the Suburban, came over to our car, and shook our hands and asked where we were from. He took time to make small talk with us. For a hick kid and his family from Upstate New York. Let me tell you, Jerry was the real deal. He cared about people, and he lived it. He was not fake nor hypocritical nor money-grubbing as some in religion are. He was authentic and true to his faith.

What was and is Jerry Falwell’s impact on Greater Binghamton? It’s the people. I’m here, and his impact is deep in my life. I know of other people who graduated from Liberty that hold prominent positions in local organizations–some at local public schools, some in private schools, some in the medical profession, some in business, some in ministry…the list goes on. I’m abundantly sure there are many I don’t know about, but who live and work in Greater Binghamton and were similarly impacted by Jerry Falwell and Liberty University.

And so I say, “Thank you Dr. Falwell.” Thank you for staying true to God, for standing for righteousness and goodness in a society that does not. Thank you for your vision of a university that would have Christ as its center, and excellence as its motto. Thank you for loving everyone–not just those who agreed with you but also those who disagreed. Thank you for your years of consistent and dedicated service. Greater Binghamton owes you a big debt of gratitude.

How about you? Were you affected by Dr. Falwell? Did you attend LU or know someone who did? If so, and if you want to remember Jerry Falwell, leave a comment. I expect some dissent, so I won’t be alarmed. I’ll censor anything vulgar, but I won’t remove contrary opinions. That’s what blogs are for. You see, I learned well from someone else who didn’t mind dissenting opinions. Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment!

Technorati Tags: Binghamton, Francis Schaeffer, Huffington Post, Jerry Falwell, Liberty University, Washington Post, White House