Military

A Pastor’s Tribute to a Warrior

Barry Mahler Military , , , ,

I Jeff Reynoldsrecently had the sad honor of officiating at the memorial service of former U.S. Navy SEAL Jeff Reynolds, whose untimely and difficult passing was a shock to us all.  The memorial service was unfortunately not recorded, and I have received many requests for copies of the message I delivered in celebration of Jeff’s chosen profession – that of the warrior.  With permission of the Reynolds family, I have done my best to create a transcript of that message as I recall delivering it.  We must never cease to honor our heroes.

Pastor Barry Mahler

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4,380 Crosses

Barry Mahler Military, Miscellaneous , , ,

A few months ago it struck me that my Dad (John Mahler, who now lives in Georgia) would be celebrating his 75th birthday in the same month that I’d be celebrating my 50th, and so I had the brilliant idea (I guess everyone gets one per lifetime) of meeting in his hometown of Henderson, Kentucky to celebrate a 125th birthday party together.  That little kernel of an idea coalesced into – with the help of many family members – two family reunions over the course of Memorial Day weekend. Continue reading →

Barry & the Navy SEAL

Barry Mahler Military, Miscellaneous , ,

The new movie Act of Valor has me thinking about my Navy days, and so I thought I’d take some time to share with everyone one of my two combat experiences.  The first of these took place between the USS Eisenhower and a Greenpeace vessel off of the coast of Mallorca, Spain in 1988.  Needless to say the U.S. Navy won that one, so we’ll move on to my other combat experience, which occurred in the Fall of 1989 when I actually fought with a Navy SEAL.  What can I say – it was the Cold War, and we didn’t have Osama and his buddies to deal with yet.  Idle hands, and all that… Continue reading →