D-Day chaplain salutes vets for sacrifices
It was the biggest worship service in Lawrence this weekend — or probably any weekend — bar none.
Nearly 2,000 people on Sunday filled the Lied Center for a morning of hymns, prayers, readings and recognition of World War II veterans as three days of inaugural activities for the Dole Institute of Politics began on a note of grace, gratitude and love of country.
Billed as the “Service Above Self Interfaith Worship Service,” and the result of months of work by Lawrence pastors and 10 participating congregations, the 10 a.m. event featured stirring hymns, patriotic anthems, a combined community choir and musicians performing on brass instruments and shiny handbells.
The pastor who brought the day’s message couldn’t have been more fitting to start a series of events intended to salute America’s “Greatest Generation.”
Lt. Col. George Russell Barber, frail with age at 88, was helped from his wheelchair by two Army soldiers to stand and deliver a sermon that recalled his 11 months and three days under fire in wartime Europe, as well as to charge his listeners to “go out into the world and make a difference.”
Pastors from several other Lawrence congregations read Scripture and led the participants in prayer.
Barber, who retired in 1969 from the Air Force — the armed service to which he had switched from the Army in 1947 — is the last surviving military chaplain who landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
That day saw 1,531 of his men killed, and, after ministering to those who were wounded or dying, it was Barber’s duty to help select the site of the first American military cemetery on French soil for those servicemen who had just perished on the beaches below.
He recalled walking alongside Ernie Pyle, the war correspondent for Stars & Stripes, and watching as Pyle retrieved a copy of the Bible from one slain soldier’s body.
“I had probably given him that Bible (earlier) that morning,” said Barber, who had started D-Day by conducting services on 11 different ships and distributing Gideon Bibles to anxious troops.
It turned into a day of great loss and terror.
“God and I together, we got that foxhole (atop the cliffs of Normandy) pretty deep,” Barber said.
Throughout the worship service, the theme of gratitude to America’s sons and daughters who served in the Second World War was revisited again and again.
At one emotional point — a moment filled with bittersweetness and pride — the many gray-haired veterans among the worship service participants were asked to stand and be recognized.
Aged by the passage of years, it was made poignantly clear that time had taken a toll on the members of the “Greatest Generation” in a way bullets never could.
But they were here, and it was their moment, and the audience clapped heartily in their honor.
At the end of his message, Barber stressed the importance in life of volunteering and service to a cause greater than oneself — whether fighting the forces of darkness on a distant battlefield, or coming to the aid of those mired in poverty and famine.
“God is not through with me yet, till I get to be 100 or more, and he’s not through with you, either,” said Barber, his blue Air Force uniform decorated with medals.
“I challenge each one of you to go out into the world and make a difference.”
Video reports
6News video: Institute spurs memories in visitors
Sunday event photos
Dole ‘humbled’ by tributeCity Government
Soccer gear honoring Lawrence history’s all-star team is now on sale as part of city’s public art exhibition
To honor public servants, Lawrence’s July 4 celebration will have a whole gallery of their photos on display; submissions open now
North Lawrence study consultants look at possibilities for a grocery store, food truck park, traffic calming and more
Algerian ambassador gives Lawrence a gift for supporting national team – a piece of art
Lawrence City Commission approves incentives for Alarm.com’s office project in downtown building
