Gallant Fathers Inspire Gallant Sons
The deeds and devotion of a father can inspire a son. In the course of the 158 years of the Medal of Honor, there have been two instances of a father and son that received the highest decoration for military valor. Both of these recipient families are famous in American History, and each had a member that shaped the course of freedom.
Arthur MacArthur, Jr. won his Medal of Honor for great heroism during the Civil War at the Battle of Missionary Ridge (Chattanooga, TN). His son, Douglas MacArthur was honored for his strong leadership in the Philippine Islands during World War II.
The other honoree set had a well-known father. Theodore Roosevelt “TR”, Jr won a Medal of Honor for heroism shown at the Battle of San Juan Heights as he led his Rough Riders to victory in the Spanish American War. His namesake son, Theodore Roosevelt “Ted” III received his honor for being the only general in the first wave of soldiers to hit the beaches of Normandy on the famous D-Day of World War II, June 6, 1944.
Although none of the fathers lived to see their sons recognized as heroes, still each left an indelible mark on their son’s life to follow in their footsteps.
Christian fathers have the responsibility to nurture and admonish their children in the Word and ways of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4, II Tim. 3:15)
A Father’s Encouragement
He had always been a frail child, and as he grew up he succumbed to violent attacks of asthma. Being often indoors, and even tutored instead of public education, the boy became an avid reader with great desires and opinions. His father took the family on a long vacation, and while away he encouraged his son to join him in daily hikes in the mountains. His father noticed that the exercise was good for the son, and soon his Dad directed this challenge: Theodore, you have the mind, but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body. The sometimes-invalid son, who adored his father, took the advice and began to exercise and join in various sports. He later went out West, he became a big game hunter, he returned and became a police commissioner in NYC, he later became a war hero, …and then affectionately known as Teddy Roosevelt, he became the 26th President of the United States. (Brands, H.W. T.R. The Last Romantic. Basic Books: New York 1997 p. 26).
In a recent (2012) study of American Presidents and their fathers, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. received the top honor as the Best Father. Although he passed away while the future president was only 19, TR later wrote of him: My father… was the best man I ever knew.
In his collected letters, President Roosevelt wrote: I was fortunate enough in having a father whom I have always been able to regard as an ideal man…he did combine the strength and courage and will and energy of the strongest man with the tenderness, cleanness, and purity of a woman. I was a sickly and timid boy. He not only took great and untiring care of me—…— but he also most wisely refused to coddle me, and made me feel that I must force myself to hold my own with other boys and prepare to do the rough work of the world. I cannot say that he ever put it into words, but he certainly gave me the feeling that I was always to be both decent and manly, and that if I were manly nobody would laugh at my being decent… and alike from my love and respect, and in a certain sense, my fear of him, I would have hated and dreaded beyond measure to have him know that I had been guilty of a lie, or of cruelty, or of bullying, or of uncleanness or cowardice. Gradually I grew to have the feeling on my account, and not merely on his (Bishop, Joseph. Theodore Roosevelt and His Time as Shown in his Own LettersNew York: Charles Scribner. 1920 p. 3)
Who is Watching?
My Dad loved to take me with him into the outdoors. He loved to escape the city, and he would often teach me various skills and Christian Truths on these adventures. The day this picture was taken, I learned a profound truth that my heavenly Father taught me.
That hot afternoon, my Dad and I were rafting down a desolate fork of the Mohican River in central Ohio. We were in our swimming trunks, and just lounging around as the current moved us through forests and fields. It was a fun, lazy, day.
A lone canoe, with a man and woman came into view and paddled up beside us. The lady called out: “Hello, Dr. Dennis!” My Dad about fell off the raft. “Who would know him here?”
The canoe slowed long enough to explain - she had been a student in one of his large university classes where he had taught a decade before.
I learned that day, not just God, but there is always someone that can see you! Do Right!
June is the month that we remember our fathers. Hardly a day goes by that I do not recall a saying, an anecdote, or some wisdom that was imparted by my father, Dr. Russell Dennis, Sr.
Directly after he passed away on June 6, 1998, I received his two preaching Bibles. I used each of these Bibles as I read through the Word of God the next two times, copying various sayings that he had written in the margins of his Bible.
I have shared in past June Updates a few of the many nuggets in my Dad’s Bible. Here are some gleanings from the book of 1 Thessalonians:
Winning the Lost, the way to be ready (1:8)
The Word of God works on you and the Word of God works in you (2:13).
A Soul winner is a Seed Sower (2:19)
What is your Joy? People, People, People (2:20)
The way to defeat the devil – God’s Love extended (3:12)
Called to Holiness (4:3)
The Way Out is the Way Up! (4:16,17)
My Speech is Ready for the Rapture (4:17)
When you quit living by faith you’re done. (5:8)
Love, the badge of the Christian (5:13)
The Minister sees the difference. (5:14)
Business Unusual! (5:24)