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STRANGE NO MORE
“Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields – strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.” -Isaiah 1:7
In the ravages of war, everyone gains the potential of becoming a stranger. Neighbors, once friendly, become savage beasts. Hunger drives a wife and mother to abandon her family. Wounded children are no longer recognized as part of the family.
War came to Kosovo and the resulting chaos created strangers. Refugee camps, frustrated border-states and the threat of death all contributed to an atmosphere of mistrust, fear and hopelessness. Agim Diroci, a Kosovar refugee from a southern village of that devastated region, was in a state of despair over the future of his family. He, his wife Halida, and their four children, aged six through 13, unexpectedly found themselves in a refugee camp in Macedonia. The Dirocis were strangers in a strange land without a future.
‘Thus says the Lord, “Do justice and righteousness, And deliver the stranger who has been robbed from the power Of his oppressor. Also, do not mistreat or do violence to the Stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place”. -Jeremiah 22:3
In Washington, D.C., 10,000 miles from the stench of death in Kosovo, HM1 Rob and Carol Berry were deep in prayer. Reports of violence against the refugee families had deeply disturbed this compassionate couple. Rob Berry had enlisted in the Coast Guard because he cared for people. As the Leading Petty Officer for the clinic at Coast Guard Headquarters, he knew how a group of caring individuals could impact one’s life. After much prayer Rob and Carol approached the leadership of their church, Mt. Oak United Methodist Church in Bowie, Maryland, about participating in the relief work. Their underlying belief? “We can’t help every displaced family, but we could surely save one.” Under Rob and Carol’s leadership, the church voted to sponsor a new beginning for a Kosovo family.
“For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in.” -Matthew 25:35
On Thursday, 1 July 1999, the Diroci family arrived in Bowie, Maryland. They had no resources, no English language skills and no money. However, in the kindness and commitment of a Coast Guard Corpsman, hope began to blossom. Bob and Carol organized a support group within the church fellowship to assist in their sponsorship. Within days both a house and car were provided, gratis, to the displaced family. Rob and Carol developed a visitation/care schedule among the members of the support group that provided for grocery shopping, English classes, job placement searches and more. Assistance was promised to the family until their adjustment was complete and they could make it on their own.
“Angel: a heavenly messenger.” – Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary.
Most of us think of angels in visual terms: wings, long flowing robes, and incredible powers. Most of us forget that angels function as messengers, and, as such, any emphasis regarding angels should focus on the message, not the image.
The Diroci family is God’s living message of our responsibility in a world needing hope. They tell us that we are surrounded by strangers. Our response to strangers is indicative of our core values.
Rob and Carol Berry, and the fellowship at Mt. Oak United Methodist, are also angelic messengers. They remind us of the power of compassion and how initiating opportunity for one family has the potential to change a world.
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, For by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” -Hebrews 13:2
THE BEAUTY OF DISCIPLINE
“And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.” - 1 Corinthians 9:25
“Consummate professional appearance” is the first impression one might make regarding CWO 2 Christine Figueroa’s fit and trim appearance. Pretty and vivacious, CWO 2 Figueroa is quick with a laugh whenever she explains to a new addition to Coast Guard Headquarters that she is an amateur body-builder who has competed in, and won, a variety of body-builder meets.
Make no mistake about it; CWO 2 Figueroa is a proud and fierce competitor. She takes her sport seriously and seeks to achieve the highest levels of fitness. There is no room for foolishness or laziness in her work-out program. She wants to win contests!! Moreover, when she wins, she relishes the victory. However, she has also experienced defeat. When she loses a meet, however disappointing, CWO 2 Figueroa considers it a source of pride and good sportsmanship to express grace to the winner and offer congratulations.
There are several lessons to be learned by CWO 2 Figueroa and her bodybuilding regimen. First, toned muscles and a “body beautiful” are not achieved overnight. They are a result of discipline and hard work. Most trainers will warn people new to the sport that they may not recognize any discernable results for three, or more, months. In fact, CWO 2 Figueroa was in training for nearly ten years before entering contests.
Discipline, in any area, is profitable only with time. That means a person has to establish a long-term goal, be willing to take small, manageable steps and maintains a spirit of perseverance. Like individual drops of water that fall in a bucket during a spring drizzle, the significant changes of weight and mass are gained slowly. The same principles of discipline hold true for every endeavor, be it financial independence, religious maturity or skilled leadership. Great results require long term efforts.
Beauty, however, extends beyond the external. Part of the beauty of being human involves intrinsic qualities. Character, personality, and keeping a positive mental attitude each involve the disciplines of goal setting, determination to improve, focus and mental/emotional training. When a competitor like CWO 2 Figueroa can put aside petty jealousy and exalt in the success of others that shows us the beauty of the connected soul. Certainly, we all want to win. However, isn’t there a certain innocent joy and admiration at the recognition of somebody who, through effort and training, actually achieves it?
Lastly, what is beauty without the support of others? CWO 2 Figueroa attributes the secret of her success to the support of friends, family and her great workout partner. Support includes both challenge and cheerleading. Challenges cause us to set our goals even higher as we seek the ultimate in our abilities. Cheerleading motivates us to continue in our effort to achieve our dreams. Once more, the exhibition of beauty is realized as people work together as a team.
Beauty. It goes far beyond perfect make-up and large biceps. It is the deeper attribute of a person confident with themselves and at one with others. It is the soul touched by the Creator.
COAST GUARD HONORS HERO WHO PAID WITH HIS LIFE
Memorial is dedicated to winner of the Medal of Honor, among others.By ROBERT A. HAMILTON - Day Staff Writer
New London – William H. Shanahan of New Haven was one of 300 U.S. Marines who hit the beaches of Guadalcanal in August 1942, a second lieutenant who wasn’t sure what to expect in the first Allied ground assault in the Pacific.
Within minutes, the Marine major commanding two rifle companies was dead, and his company commander was killed, leaving Shanahan in command on a small hill, with rifle and mortar fire coming from a nearby jungle. When a second assault on the rear of the Japanese position failed, he was ordered to withdraw.
We lost more people getting back to the beach than we did securing the hill,” Shanahan recalled. Pinned down by withering fire, the men managed to make it to the beach, where they waded out to 24 recovery craft waiting in shallow water.
Trapped in the water, they were defenseless as a contingent of Japanese soldiers bore down on them when suddenly a Coast Guard signalman first class in charge of one of the boats maneuvered his way to a position between the two forces, firing his .50 –caliber machine gun to give the Marines time to get away.
This signalman, Douglas A. Munro, severely wounded by enemy fire, died a short time later, but with his dying breath, he was concerned only with the men he saved – “Did they get off?” he asked. For his selfless rescue of almost 200 Marines, Munro became the first and only member of the Coast Guard to win the Medal of Honor.
“At the time I don’t think I realized what he had done,” Shanahan said at the ceremonies Friday at the Coast Guard Academy to dedicated a monument to Munro, and the nine Amphibious Personnel Assault vessels, or APAs, that delivered and picked up troops in World War II. “We recognized he did a good job of getting us out, but most of us were in a state of shock.”
“Now I think of his memory every day of my life,” Shanahan said.
Stanley McLeod of Orlando, Fla., and Thomas C. Thompson Jr. of Voorhees, N.J., who were both on the beach that day under the shelter of Munro’s landing craft agreed that had it not been for the Coast Guard hero, the toll would have been far worse than the 60 killed and the 100 wounded.
Joseph Kiwak of Oxfor, Mass., national president of the Guadalcanal campaign Veterans Association said Munro epitomized the valiant effort of “Coasties” who operated the APAs.
“They’re the guys who risked their lives to put us ashore, and then pick us up when we were under fire,” Kiwak said.
More than 500 veterans and their families traveled from as far away as Oregan and California to attend Friday’s dedication ceremonies for the unveiling of the black granite monumnet on Bertholf Plaza on the academy grounds. The monument lists the names of the nine APAs and the crewmen who died in the war. Munro’s portion of the three-sided obelisk faces the building named in his honor.
Rear Adm. Douglas H. Teeson, the academy superintendent said that 44 APA sailors were killed and 154 were wounded getting Marines on and off the beaches of Okinawa, Normanday, North Africa and in almost 50 other invasions.
“This monument is a fitting tribute to their courage and bravery – the iron willed sailors of the Amphibious Personnel Assault ships,” Teeson said.
After the monument was unveiled, the names of each of the APA sailors who died in the war was read, and a bell tolled for each name. Then an artillery crew fired a 21-gun salute, and buglers blew taps.
The Coast Guard was placed into wartime status in 1941, bringing it under the jurisdiction of the Navy, and the service staffed several ships and served alongside Navy sailors on others, including nine former luxury liners that were turned over to the federal government for conversion to troop transports: th USS Leonard Wood, USS Joseph T. Dickman, USS Hunter Liggett, USS Arthur Middleton, USS Samuel Chase, USS Bayfield, USS Callaway, USS Cambria and USS Cavalier.
The idea for the monument came from Bernie Muraca, chairman of the Samuel Chase Association, who oversaw the liner’s design and construction. He cited a poem that referred to history as “a ship, carrying living memories toward the future."
“That is exactly what this memorial is,” Muraca said. Every day it will be seen by the senior enlisted people undergoing training at the academy, the officers who teach there, and the cadets who are the history of the force, and they will carry the memory into the future. Your children, and your grandchildren, will come to the academy and say the same thing – ‘my grandfather was on that ship,’” Muraca said.
He presented Teeson with a plaque to thank him for his support, engraved with the image of the Samuel Chase. In answer to the hoots and hollers that his choice raised, he told the crowd that the decision was reached fairly – he put nine slips of paper into a hat, and drew one, and it just happened to be his ship.
“Of course, the other eight slips also had ‘Lucky Chase’ on them,” he said, using the ship’s nickname. The Samuel Chase lost one man during the war, had three wounded, and shot down three of the 22 planes accounted for by APAs.
Vincent Patton III, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard and one of the keynote speakers, said in many towns and cities there are monuments to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought and died in World War II, but few remember the contributions of the Coast Guard because there are few monuments to their memory. “Today,” Patton said, “we have one.”
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