The Missing Children of Bedford Represent the Greatest Love

        Nestled in the gentle Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia, surrounded by acres of lush grass, playground equipment, and athletic fields, is a modern elementary school where children safely play.  It really is a gorgeous setting for this relatively new, attractive brick school whose mission statement is “to educate every child to be an academically successful student, a socially responsible citizen, and a life-long learner.”

        It’s been a busy spring.  The 4^th and 5^th graders performed an original play in March called “Failure is Impossible.”  Two weeks ago the classes had their field day and the Award Assemblies were held this week.  Yesterday was the 5^th Grade Graduation.  In so many ways the Bedford Elementary School looks like a very typical, all-American school—but it’s not.  You see, there are missing children. 

        There may be 100 children who are missing, perhaps more.  No one really knows the number.  Their last names would be Stevens, Reynolds, Yopp, Gillaspie, and Hoback to name a few.  They would be happy, well-adjusted children, participating in all of the activities, the plays, the outings.  Their moms and dads would be so proud of them and of course, their grandparents would too.  They would sit together at the Award Assemblies and the 5^th Grade Graduation with hearts full of pride and eyes brimming with tears, wondering how their little boys and girls grew up so fast. 

Their great-grandfathers would be proud too, if they were still living.  They would be in their 90s now, some approaching 100.  They would be so proud because they not only had been blessed with a long, good life, but they had watched their children, then their grandchildren, and now their great-grandchildren grow into responsible citizens, having families of their own.  They had become educators, doctors, ministers, farmers, and civic leaders.  They had made a profound difference in their community. But it never happened.

These children are missing because they were never born.  Their parents were never born.  Their grandparents were never born because their great-grandfathers who would be in their nineties now, were killed 71 years ago and they never had the opportunity to have a family.  Sitting next door to the Bedford Elementary School is the majestic National D-Day Memorial that pays homage to the valiant men who died in the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944.  The reason it is located in the little town of Bedford is because this community lost 21 boys in the Normandy Invasion, the greatest loss per-capita of any town or city in the United States.  Their last names were Stevens, Reynolds, Yopp, Gillaspie, Hoback plus 17 more. 

 A large delegation of Lexington travelers visited the memorial recently on our annual Bible Study Field Trip.  It was a picture-perfect spring day.  A quiet reverence, a holy hush hovered over us as we walked through the memorial listening to our guide’s commentary.  It was the largest military amphibious landing the world has ever seen involving 150,000 soldiers, 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft.    There were over 9,000 casualties in the invasion with 4,413 men being killed on D-Day itself.  Nineteen of the Bedford boys died within the first 15 minutes.  The magnitude of the sacrifice is incalculable, but it was necessary to defeat the powers of evil that threatened us.  General Eisenhower stated that this was a crusade in which we would accept nothing less than full victory.  Failure was impossible.  All of us in the group were touched and deeply moved by the power of the experience. 

I kept looking over at the elementary school.  I wonder how many men who died would have had great-grandchildren attending that school.  There are missing children all over our nation because a mother or father, a grandparent or great-grandparent gave the ultimate sacrifice.  But what if they had not died?  What if we had not engaged the enemy and turned back the tide of evil?  Would there even be an elementary school today?  Would we have churches in which to worship?  Would our children be able to safely play?

I invite you to pause and reflect on this Memorial Day Weekend.  I thank God for the selfless, brave, and heroic men and women who believed that “Failure is Impossible” even if it cost them their very lives.  Jesus said there is no greater love than a man who lays down his life for his friends.  The Missing Children of Bedford represent the greatest love.