For Part One or Part Three, click on your link of choice.
For a change, we have a historical reference to follow up on today. Elder Monson mentioned a story he enjoyed as a child in his talk, "Lost Battalions" - a story about the 'Lost Battalion' in World War I.
The Quote
As a boy, I enjoyed reading the account of the “lost battalion.”
The “lost battalion” was a unit of the 77th Infantry Division in World War I.
During the Meuse-Argonne offensive,
a major led this battalion through a gap in the enemy lines,
but the troops on the flanks were unable to advance.
An entire battalion was surrounded.
Food and water were short; casualties could not be evacuated.
Hurled back were repeated attacks.
Ignored were notes from the enemy requesting the battalion to surrender.
Newspapers heralded the battalion’s tenacity.
Men of vision pondered its fate.
After a brief but desperate period of total isolation,
other units of the 77th Division advanced and relieved the “lost battalion.”
Correspondents noted in their dispatches
that the relieving forces seemed bent on a crusade of love
to rescue their comrades in arms.
Men volunteered more readily, fought more gallantly, and died more bravely.
A fitting tribute echoed from that ageless sermon preached on the Mount of Olives:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
I think I found something similar to the story he read in this book - The Lost Battalion by Thomas Johnson and Fletcher Pratt. Just reading the introduction was an insight into the story, and a harrowing story it was, like all the stories coming out of World War I.
There's more to the story than Elder Monson related - particularly in terms of the leader of the Lost Battalion, Charles W. Whittlesey, who seems to have died of undiagnosed depression due to war trauma after he came home. A sad end to a very selfless and brave man.
I have mixed feelings myself, having read and learned so much about these historical wars - there was plenty of opportunity for valor and bravery and for men and boys to prove themselves and protect those they loved - lots of those stories. And then there's the tragedy and madness of war in general, and the loss of those same said great men.
In a sense, these sorts of war stories have an echo in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I guess that's why we keep telling them. Christ came down in a very contentious time and place, and gave His life for everyone who will accept His sacrifice - laying down His life for His friends.
The tragedy of violence is still something we struggle with today, even if we aren't directly touched by a formal war. We don't always get to choose what world events touch us - but it's good to remember that we always get to choose our response.
