I was watching “Vietnam in HD”—a three-night documentary about the Vietnam War on the History Channel—last night and was once again struck by the horrors of war. The tolls it takes on those involved, the lives lost and the devastation to the populace of those embattled zones.

As with other documentaries about war, what really caught my attention is that the veterans of these conflicts—these dear men and women—continue to carry the memories of those horrific events as if they had just happened. They often break down in tears or do their best to try to control themselves as those visions of friends lost or the enemy soldiers they killed come back with full force to haunt them. 

My father-in-law—a kind, thoughtful and strong individual—fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II as a member of the famed 101st Airborne Division. I once asked him about that bloody campaign and he suddenly hardened-up and refused to talk about it. I can only imagine how difficult it was for him and his comrades.

So many paid the ultimate price and so many continue to pay a price for freedom that must be defended. 

It is without a doubt a terrible one.

For all who do return home, my prayer is that they’ll be able to feel a sense of peace about their actions. Not an uneasy truce, but a real inner peace that removes those visions from their thought and allows them to go on with their lives in productive, fulfilling and rewarding ways—ways that they’ve surely earned.

Millennia ago a Psalmist wrote “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46) That refuge—that strength—is always present for our veterans as well as for all of us. And it’s a palpable presence we can lean on.

They—we—all deserve that lasting freedom.