Originally posted by alexgb00
I see that you've never been in a situation where your life was on the line. You'd have a different reply otherwise.
God bless you!
The "Atheists-in-Foxholes" monument is adjacent to the Willa Mae Whatley Auditorium in Fearn Park, overlooking Lake Hypatia. After all the decisions about how it was to be shaped and what was to be on it, Bill Teague volunteered to coordinate the monument project. After all the preparation of the design, Bill had the monument cut, the foundation laid, and the monument placed on the foundation. On one side is the emblem of the US Air Force and the US Army, on another is the emblem of the US Navy and the US Marine Corps, on another the emblem of the US Coast Guard and the US Merchant Marine. On the front of the monument is:
IN MEMORY OF ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES AND COUNTLESS FREETHINKERS WHO HAVE SERVED THIS COUNTRY WITH HONOR AND DISTINCTION PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL FREEDOM FROM RELIGION FOUNDATION WITH HOPE THAT IN THE FUTURE MANKIND MAY LEARN TO AVOID ALL WAR
Willa Mae Whatley Auditorium, Fearn Park and the "Atheists-in-Foxholes" monument were all dedicated on July 4, 1999, during the annual Freethought Homecoming. Alice Shiver wrote a poem for the celebration entitled:
Atheists in Foxholes.
Atheists in foxholes, some say they are myths,
Creations of the mind who just don't exist.
Yet, they answered the call to defend, with great pride.
With reason their watchword, they bled and they died.
They took Saratoga from the British crown,
Secured America's freedom at the Battle of Yorktown.
From Sumter to Appomattox, fields flowed with their blood.
When the cannons grew silent, the flag proudly stood.
From the Marne to the Argonne, in trenches and tanks,
They defeated the Germans -- the whole world gave thanks.
They were bombed at Pearl Harbor, fought on to Berlin.
Many freethinking women served along with the men.
Still war keeps erupting -- Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
Where is the peace that eludes people so?
It is broken by tyrants who bear crosses and creeds,
That overshadow reason with hate and cruel deeds.
So atheists prevail until your work is complete.
Mothers mourn, children cry, and bigots plan your defeat.
By air, land, and sea, you answer freedom's call.
Without god or faith, you seek liberty for all.
In Memory of Atheists in Foxholes
http://www.mindspring.com/~wjager/atheists-in-foxholes.html