This week, I will be updating blog readers on the conclusion of our 25,000-mile adventure through the South Pacific. For now, I offer the following observation:

On the beaches of Iwo Jima, the mortality rate was the highest for any battle in Marine Corps history. Entire batallions were wiped out, some experiencing 75% casualties. Men were cut into pieces. Many suffered unimaginable pain and were wounded with little hope of survival.

But even under the worst circumstances, the men of the United States Marine Corps (with the aid of heroic Navy Corpsman) were 100% committed to rescuing every man, regardless of injury or life potential. They were committed to recovering every body, even at great risk to the living. Every life (and every body) was precious, regardless of injury or hope of survival of the wounded.

Aren’t you grateful that the 53% of the professing Evangelical Christians who told TIME Magazine that it’s okay to starve Terri Schiavo were not defending our nation in 1945?