Drew had never been a weapons man. Right now though he wouldn’t have minded shooting down every one of the chirping birds above his head. The December winds still fraught with chill, but the few that had remained were full of song and laughter. And they had no right to be.
The
sun had no right to shine, the sky no right to be blue. Not here in a cemetery,
with the mouth of Jasmine’s grave, fresh and wet, waiting for her coffin. The
American flag ruffled in the icy breeze. Jasmine’s pastor and many hometown
friends had gathered. Her mother had been dutifully notified, but had not been
at the viewing, the service, or now, as the US Marine Corp prepared for their
final goodbyes.
There
had been no question of who the pallbearers were to be. Sergeant Emery,
Corporals Koehler and Pruitt, Lance Corporal Schrader, and Privates Holst, Humriche,
and Duro, all present. Pressed and ironed in their military best, the least any
Marine could do for a brother or sister-in-arms. For them though, for Drew as
well, this wasn’t just Jasmine’s burial. It was the completion of their
mission.
Jasmine
had expired while the helicopter was still sixteen minutes out. The village was
no longer in priority, the bad guys lay dead and the tunnel entrances had been
found. Drew listened as a final formation was made, watching as the seven dots
encircled the eighth, a neon compass in the dark dawn of the Middle East. The
whole sixteen minutes it didn’t move, didn’t falter, and had there been more
hostels, the 138th wouldn’t have yielded even to that.
“Our
nation has held too many of these in the last decade it seems.” Jasmine’s
pastor was suddenly at the head of her coffin, speaking. “I’ve met pastors who
have stopped telling one from the other, a terrible injustice in any
circumstance. But this…” His head bowed a moment, glancing at the coffin.
“Losing someone in this time when we’re meant to be jubilant, basking in
Christ’s birth...”
Drew
felt his legs tense, to get up and run away right at that moment.
“The
only consolation I can give is that Jasmine Foley left with such an attitude.”
The pastor turned in his long, gray overcoat. “Her good friend, Hosiah
Schrader, was there. He told me how Jasmine’s last thoughts were on nothing but
her Savior. All her face showed was the peace at the prospect of entering
Heaven. My friends, there’s something to be jubilant about.”
There
were some nods and Drew noticed a couple lean over their teenage daughter as
she sobbed. Entering Heaven? Didn’t Jasmine give any thought to what she was
leaving behind?
“Anyone
who knew Jasmine,” the pastor sniffed out a slight laugh. “Anyone who MET
Jasmine, knew that the Psalms were her favorite of the Scriptures. But I was
entrusted with her Bible last night and I found quite intimate notes on
Deutoromony 4, verses 32 through 39.’
‘If
you’ll allow me, the last verse Jasmine had highlighted; “Acknowledge and take
to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below.
There is no other.’
‘Jasmine,
as I saw and knew her, sent this message out to everyone she interacted with.
She lived out a message- God’s message- and I believe the reason for its
success was her boundless confidence. The Lord was her God, her Father and
Master. She would tell you that here and now with no doubt in her voice.”
The
pastor spread out his arms. “Many people here can say they have faith and I
believe that statement. But how many of you doubt yourselves, doubt your God? I
apologize for the sermon, but I know Jasmine will find a way to haunt me
if I don’t get these words out.” He took a step back, nodding to Jasmine’s
fellow Marines, who hadn’t moved an inch. “Jasmine Foley was in her fifth year
of service to the freedom of this country. The soldiers here today, I’m sure
can testify to what she saw; death, suffering, injustice and disregard for
life, the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches us.’
‘If
there’s anything made to cause doubt in a benevolent God, it would be war and I
can’t say Jasmine never had her moments of falter. But she never let them
linger; to say that would be to contradict the way she lived. So, in
conclusion, I think Jasmine would want you all to take Deuteronomy 4:39 to
heart today. She’d want her death to be a testament of her God, not a reason to
doubt Him.”
He
left it at that, dropping Jasmine’s legacy here at the foot of her grave. Drew
had to practically unsnap his jaw from the rigid position it’d been clenched in
during the whole talk. The only testament he’d wanted to make would’ve gotten
him kicked out of the service. He put his brain on pause while Emery, Schrader,
and Holst about-faced and prepared for the 21-gun salute. Humriche had begged
to be the third gunmen, but he was already on crutches, defying a doctor’s
clear orders of zero activity and bed rest.
BANG!
The weapons released in unison. The people gave little jumps in there seats;
had this been even two years ago, Drew would’ve done the same.
BANG! The blanks echoed again
and again, until the final volleys were ringing over the forest of marble and
limestone. With the fall of their echo, the sharp notes of ‘Taps’ blasted from
the bugle player; a friend of Hosiah’s from New Orleans. They’d pulled out all
the stops… BANG!
*THE END*
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