July 2021

Page A18 JULY 2021 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A By Mark Bowser Is it possible for a person to be bulletproof? Protected beyond all measure of human understanding? America’s foremost historian, David Barton, shared a story that used to be found in almost every American history text book for one hundred and fifty years. Today, most students and Americans have never heard this story. The story takes place twenty years before the American War for Independence. George Washington was a young man of twenty-three years old when he was called to duty in the French and Indian War. The war was between the United Kingdom and France. Both sides had claimed own- ership of the land around the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. A peaceful agreement couldn’t be made so war broke out between the two European powers. The Americans joined the British side and most of the Native Americans joined with the French. At the time, George Washington was Colonel of the Virginia Militia. George Washington and one hundred of his militia joined with General Braddock to kick the French out of Fort Duquesne, which is now the city of Pittsburgh. On July 9, 1755, they walked right into an ambush. The British were still about seven miles from the fort march- ing in the midwestern wilderness when all of sudden they began taking on fire from both sides of their path. The French and Indians shot at them from all angles: from behind trees, underneath logs, sheltered from rocks, and even from above in the top of trees. The British were some of the world’s best and most expe- rienced soldiers. Unfortunately, it was at European style of warfare. In that style, both armies would line up in straight lines on opposite sides of a field and bravely fire at each other. So, in the middle of a wilderness, the British did what they had been trained to do. They lined up shoulder to shoulder neatly as if they were marching in a parade. They The Foundations of Success for Funeral Directors were easy pickings for the enemy. The Indians and French, protected by their hiding places, took out the British with ease. In only two hours, over 700 of the 1,300 British and Virginia Militia troops were slaughtered. Only thirty of the French and Indians had been shot. George Washington was the only officer who was not shot off of his horse. This twenty-three-year-old militia leader found himself in command of what was left of the British army. What should he do? Continue to fight? Washington knew what he had to do. He must save what was left of his men. Washington gathered up the remaining troops and re- treated back to Fort Cumberland. During the battle, several horses had been shot from un- derneath Washington. Later, Washington found four bullet holes in his jacket, but he had not been touched by one bul- let. He told his family in a letter that, “By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation.” Washington knew he was protected by Almighty God. There was not a doubt in his mind about that. Fifteen years later in 1770, George Washington and a close friend returned to those same woods where the battle had been fought. An Indian Chief heard that Washington was there and traveled far to meet with him. The Native Ameri- can Chief told Washington that he had been a leader in that great battle and that he had instructed his braves to single out all the officers, including Washington. The Chief himself had shot at Washington seventeen times without success. Believ- ing that Washington was under the protection of the Great Spirit, the Chief told his braves to quit firing on Washington. On that day in 1770, the Chief told Washington, “I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. I have come to pay homage to the man whose is the particular favorite of Heaven and who can never die in battle.” There was a time when most American children were taught that story in school about our first President. To- day, most Americans have never heard that story. A re- cent poll stated that only 40% of Americans have a ba- sic knowledge of American history. That is very sad… and dangerous. Philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That lesson goes both directions. Today, there are igno- rant cries to tear down statues in an attempt to erase part of our history. But if we don’t remember the mistakes of the past then we are condemned to repeat them. There is evil in parts of history. We must never repeat the sins of the past. So, we must understand history. We must understand how the Hitler of the 1930’s became the Hitler of the 1940’s and killed over eleven million Jewish people. We must understand the history of slavery and how one man, Abraham Lincoln, led the fight to end that scourge in the United States in 1863. History is not without evil … but we must remember it. History is also filled with stories of good and we must re- member them too. We must walk on the shores of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and remember the Wright Broth- ers and man’s leap into a bigger world. We must remem- ber that first shaky flight and how it shined a light onto the path that led us to Tranquility Base on July 20, 1969 where Neil Armstrong took “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” So, is it possible to be bulletproof and protected beyond all measure of human understanding? Oh yeah! Was George Washington Bulletproof? FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at Mark Bowser is the Vice President at the Bright Corpora - tion which is one of the leading publishers of quality funeral stationary products in the world today. Mark’s grandfather bought the business in 1945 and the Bowser family is in its fourth generation of running this business. Bright Corp can be reached at www.BrightCorporation.com Mark Bowser is the author of several books including “The 3 Pillars of Success for Funeral Directors” and “Sales Success” with Zig Ziglar. He is a Professional Speaker and the host of the popular podcast “Let Me Tell You A Story with Mark Bowser” which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other major platforms. He can be reached at mark@BrightCorporation.com Call 651-450-7727 to request a wholesale catalog, Our Extra-Large Cremains Bags (13”x 15”) are perfectly sized for the Standard Plastic Human Service Urn. or visit UrnBags.com to order some bags. Just $2.90 each*. * Bags sold in multiples of 10 Choose from Black, Blue, or Burgundy J t $3. 0 each* Choose fr m Black, Blue, rgundy, Green or Gray Phone: 877-770-TIES (8437) Fax: 276-466-3474 E-mail: customerservice@tiesforyou.com www.tiesforyou.com STYLISH MATCHING TIES FOR PROFESSIONALS Any Size Group or Organization Rollings Funeral Service Announces Merger of Two West Virginia Funeral Homes Vaughan-Kimes Funeral Home & Crematory TYRONE,GA—Rollings Funeral Ser- vice has announced the recent merger of two of their locations in Parkersburg, WV. The two funeral homes, Vaughan Funeral Home and Kimes Funeral Home & Cre- mation Services, will now be serving their Parkersburg community under one roof and will be known as Vaughan-Kimes Fu- neral Home & Crematory. Greg Rollings, president and CEO of Rollings Funeral Service, commented “Ev- ery decision we make regarding our funer- al homes are centered around how to best serve families. By merging these two funer- al homes into one and operating out of one location, we can now more efficiently serve Parkersburg and provide a higher level of care.” Rollings also noted that all part-time and full-time staff from both locations will be kept on. Speaking with Sam Church, region- al manager for Rollings Funeral Service’s West Virginia locations, he mentioned that it just made more sense for their families to merge the two firms. “With both hav- ing good names in the community and a strong following of loyal families locally that we would combine the two together and have the businesses combined into one facility,” said Church. He also mentioned that the merged firm will now operate out of the current Kimes Funeral Home build- ing. “Kimes Funeral Home was specifical- ly designed and built as a funeral home so there’s a more modern layout, larger chapel, and more parking for families,” Church noted. The Vaughan Funeral Home loca- tion closed at the end of May. Rollings Funeral Service acquired Vaughan Funeral Home in 2019 and Kimes Funeral Home & Cremation Ser- vices in 2020. With nearly 70 locations, Rollings Funer- al Service is one of the largest private fu- neral home owners in the eastern United States. With each of their firms operated on the local level, their managers work di- rectly with Rollings Funeral Service to es- tablish budgets, pricing, and best practices. They also pride themselves on being a great alternative to selling to a publicly traded company and they continue to search for firms that will be a great fit to their grow- ing family of funeral homes. www . n om i s p u b l i c a t i o n s . c om