F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Since 1952 this nation has been observing a National Day of Prayer, every year on the first Thursday in May, and on May 2, 2018, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, held a National Prayer Luncheon is recognition.
The commander-run program hosted by the Chaplains is meant to recognize our constitutional right of prayer and understand that each religion is rooted in a background of prayer.
“Each year, this event reminds us that faith is central to American life and to liberty,” said President Donald J. Trump. “Our founders invoked our Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence. Our currency declares, ‘In God We Trust’ and we place our hands on our hearts as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance and proclaim we are ‘One Nation Under God’.”
The NDP belongs to all Americans. It’s the day where differences transcend despite backgrounds and religious beliefs.
F.E. Warren’s “Art of Belonging” themed luncheon was open to all belief backgrounds. Representatives from various religious groups offered a prayer.
“We always have to carve time out of our day to grow,” said Maj. William Vit Jr., Chaplain. “We become a new person, and during this luncheon, we are given this time regardless of faith.”
During the event, scheduled to coincide with the Chaplains monthly fellowship luncheon, guests were treated to a catered lunch followed by words from keynote speaker Chaplain, Maj. Gen. (Ret) Cecil Richardson, former chief of chaplains.
“There was one guy in my friend group that was afraid of the draft and did not want to enlist,” said Richardson. “He took a shotgun and went around his house and blew his foot off. He wasn’t drafted and has not served his country one day in his life. But, this guy lost more than a foot that day. He has never known what you and I know. He has never known the pride that comes with serving your country. He never got to look in the mirror to count the stripes on a sleeve or polish the brass on a shoulder. He never got to experience the feeling you get when you stand at attention for the national anthem and salute the flag. He will never know what it means to belong to a band of brothers and sisters.”
The theme of the luncheon and the overall message of Richardson’s words were consistent with one of the priorities of Col. Stacy Jo Huser, 90th Missile Wing commander, to foster a sense of belonging with one another here on F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
And together everyone came on May 2, 2018, to belong as a band of brothers and sisters.