President Thomas S. Monson on the sacrifices of soldiers

President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) was sustained to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1963. He served as a counselor in the First Presidency with Presidents Benson, Hunter, and Hinckley and then became Church president in 2008. He led the Church for almost a decade until his passing in January 2018.

"One summer day I stood alone in the quiet of the American War Memorial Cemetery of the Philippines. A spirit of reverence filled the warm tropical air. Situated among the carefully mowed grass, acre upon acre, were markers identifying men, mostly young, who in battle gave their lives. As I let my eyes pass name by name along the many colonnades of honor, tears came easily and without embarrassment. As my eyes filled with tears, my heart swelled with pride. I contemplated the high price of liberty and the costly sacrifice many had been called upon to bear.

"My thoughts turned from those who bravely served and gallantly died. There came to mind the grief-stricken mother of each fallen man as she held in her hand the news of her precious son’s supreme sacrifice. Who can measure a mother’s grief? Who can probe a mother’s love? Who can comprehend in its entirety the lofty role of a mother? With perfect trust in God, she walks, her hand in his, into the valley of the shadow of death that you and I might come forth unto life."

- Thomas S. Monson, "Behold Thy Mother," General Conference October 1973
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It is well to pause occasionally and consider the contributions and sacrifices of those who have gone before. In the United States, Memorial Day is intended to encourage us to remember the sacrifices of those who served, and died, in the military. President Monson, a veteran himself from his Navy service near the end of World War II, was very sensitive to those sacrifices. I loved this personal experience of his mourning in a military cemetery in the Philippines:

Beyond the sacrifice of the soldiers, President Monson also extends his thoughts to the mothers of those soldiers. We sometimes forget the contribution of those who supported a child, husband, or close friend in these efforts and was left with the burden of loss and sadness at the death of a soldier.

Certainly, we should always remember "the high price of liberty and the costly sacrifice many had been called upon to bear."

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2019)

President Thomas S. Monson on gratitude for sacrifices of the military

President Thomas S. Monson (b. August 21, 1927) was sustained to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1963. He served as a counselor in the First Presidency with Presidents Benson, Hunter, and Hinckley until becoming Church president in 2008.

"Wherever I travel I try to pay a visit to the town cemetery. It is a time of contemplation, of reflection on the meaning of life and the inevitability of death....

"The largest cemeteries, and in many respects those which evoke the most tender emotions, are honored as the resting places of men who died in the caldron of conflict known as war while wearing the uniform of their country. One reflects on shattered dreams, unfulfilled hopes, grief-filled hearts, and lives cut short by the sharp scythe of war.

"Acres of neat, white crosses in the cities of France and Belgium accentuate the terrible toll of World War I. Verdun, France, is—in reality—a gigantic cemetery. Each spring, as farmers till the earth, they uncover a helmet here, a gun barrel there—grim reminders of the millions of men who literally soaked the soil with the blood of their lives.

"A tour of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and other battlefields of the American Civil War marks that conflict, where brother fought against brother. Some families lost farms, others possessions....

"One sentence only, spoken by one person only, provides a fitting epitaph: 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' (John 15:13.)"

- Thomas S. Monson, "He Is Risen," General Conference, October 1981
Click here to read or watch the full talk

In his many discourses over the years, President Monson several times expressed a particular sensitivity for the victims of war. In this example, he reflected on the visual impact of a military cemetery and all it represents of the lives of those whose mortal remains rest there. How tender and fitting to contemplate "shattered dreams, unfulfilled hopes, grief-filled hearts, and lives cut short by the sharp scythe of war."

President Monson identified the greatest tribute that would be offered to those who so unselfishly gave their lives in defense of country and freedom: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And he goes on in the talk to replace the darkness of despair with the hope of eternal life offered by the death and resurrection of the Savior. How blessed we are to have that eternal hope!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)

Gordon B. Hinckley on remembrance and gratitude for military service

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) was called to the Quorum of Twelve in 1961. He served as a counselor in the First Presidency from 1981-1995, then as Church President until his death in 2008.

"I deeply appreciate those who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of human liberty. I hate war, with all its mocking panoply. It is a grim and living testimony that Satan, the father of lies, the enemy of God, lives. War is earth's greatest cause of human misery. It is the destroyer of life, the promoter of hate, the waster of treasure. It is man's costliest folly, his most tragic misadventure....

"Can anyone in a free land be less than grateful for those who have given their lives that liberty might flourish?

"I have stood at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, where are remembered those who have died for the freedom of the United States. I have stood by the Cenotaph at Whitehall in London, where are remembered the dead of Britain. I have seen the flame that always burns beneath the Arch of Triumph in Paris, in remembrance of the men of France who died in the cause of freedom. At each of these sacred places I have felt a deep and moving sense of gratitude to those there remembered. I have stood beside my own brother's grave in the U.S. military cemetery in Suresnes, France, and thanked the Lord for the liberty preserved by the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in the cause of human liberty. I have walked reverently on that quiet ground known as the Punch Bowl in Hawaii, where lie the remains of thousands who made the ultimate sacrifice....

"In such places, hallowed by the blood of patriots, I have thought of a scene in the Maxwell Anderson play Valley Forge. The scene depicts soldiers of the American Revolution, cold, hungry, and filled with despair, burying a dead comrade in the frozen earth. General Washington says with a touch of bitterness: 'This liberty will look easy by and by, when nobody dies to get it.'

"When I was a boy in school, each Armistice Day at eleven o'clock we all stood with bowed heads for a minute of silent and grateful remembrance. I am sorry we have forgotten that practice in the rush of our lives....

"May the Lord bless our brethren in the service, wherever they may be, for their faithfulness. May the Lord remind us of the debt of gratitude we owe them, and may he awaken within us a resolution to live worthy of their sacrifice."

- Gordon B. Hinckley, "In Grateful Remembrance," Ensign, March 1971, p. 20
Click here to read the full address

This is such a touching tribute and reminder from President Hinckley. He starts with this vivid description of war's "mocking panoply" that he attributes directly to Satan:

President Hinckley then documents his own personal gratitude, giving examples of those who have sacrificed in war to preserve freedom—including his own brother.

This reminder warns that we are losing the patriotism of the past as it subtly fades:

And I think this concluding prayer and challenge sums up the message.