For 30 of my 40-plus years as a pastor, I have had the privilege of serving in two distinguished military communities: Anniston (former home of Fort McClellan) and Pensacola (home of Pensacola Naval Air Station). I continue to share life with those who currently serve or have valiantly served our country. Over the past three years I have enjoyed conversations with multiple military chaplains, officiated a wedding for a naval aviator, presided over the memorial service of a World War II veteran, shared a eulogy for a retired colonel, and listened to the career story of a former navy pilot, now in his eighties.

In each of the communities where I have served, an extraordinarily large number of residents have lost a son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, friend or neighbor on the field of battle. During my tenure in Pensacola, I shared over one hundred eulogies at the Barrancas…