Pearl Harbor To Purpose

A quiet milestone hits hard: for the first time in 84 years, no Pearl Harbor survivor could attend the ceremony. That absence becomes a mirror, and we ask the hard question—what will history say about our generation when our voices fade? We weave that reflection through Scripture, prayer, and lived examples to trace a path of courage rooted not in noise but in fidelity.

We start with the heart of the home—marriage—drawing from Hebrews 13:4 to make a clear, hopeful case for honoring vows and resisting the pull to normalize what wounds trust. Mercy is real, and so is accountability. From there, Revelation 20 reframes our moment: evil deceives, but only for a time; books are opened; names matter; and resurrection hope changes how we carry responsibility. Psalm 148 widens the frame to a universe of praise, reminding us that obedience is harmony with a creation that already sings. Proverbs 31:8–9 then turns praise into practice, calling us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and to seek justice for the crushed.

We ground these themes in story. A brief Medal of Honor spotlight on Robert Earl Bonney pulls courage out of the boiler room and into the light, showing that heroism often hides behind steel and steam. And we revisit President Harry Truman’s 1950 Christmas messages—words forged in wartime—that tie peace on earth to moral clarity and public duty. Throughout, we bless the workers who keep communities alive—farmers, ranchers, linemen, doctors, builders—because service is how love becomes law in daily life.

If you’re ready for a clear-eyed, hopeful call to remember well, love well, and stand firm with grace, press play and join us. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review with one action you’ll take this week.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome, Thanks, And Opening Prayer
• 2:52 Pearl Harbor Memory And Legacy
• 4:33 Will Our Generation Stand Or Fade
• 5:09 Marriage Honored And Moral Clarity
• 6:22 Revelation 20 And Final Judgment
• 9:40 Universal Praise In Psalm 148
• 11:01 Speak For The Voiceless In Proverbs
• 11:26 Medal Of Honor Spotlight: R.E. Bonney
• 12:22 Truman’s 1950 Christmas Messages
• 16:54 Accountability, Mercy, And Closing Blessing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:02

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are in whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and energy, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. Those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you. Hopefully y'all are getting to listen to it with somebody else right now. Those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 0:36

Very, very grateful for your prayers.

SPEAKER_01: 0:41

Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00: 0:49

Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for the opportunities you give us each day. The chances to do your will, to share your son Jesus Christ. Help us to take advantage of those where you present them. Help us also, Father, to strive to lead a quiet life, to work with our hands, to love you with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. To love our neighbors as ourselves. Thank you for the people that listen to the podcast. Please be with them, be with their families. Help us to do your will. Guide our steps. Be with our doctors, nurses, all the people in our medical fields. Give them wisdom and courage, strength, perseverance. Be with our farmers and our ranchers. Give them bountiful herds and crops and our fishermen as well. Thank you for them. Thank you for the work they do. Be with those who go out on roads and power lines and all of our carpenters and plumbers and electricians and people that build our nation? Be with them. Draw them close to you. And help us to turn our nation back to you, Father. And please guide my words here in your son's name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_01: 2:52

So how many of y'all saw recently at Pearl Harbor that this was the first time in 84 years that a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was not able to make it.

SPEAKER_00: 3:14

I didn't notice that until my father passed that along to me. And time passes.

SPEAKER_01: 3:37

One of the reasons it's so important for those of us who are left to remember those days, to pass on that knowledge and that information and that wisdom to try and avoid those in the future.

SPEAKER_00: 3:56

And I was thinking about this, folks, and you have to wonder what people will say about us 80 to 90 years from now.

SPEAKER_01: 4:10

And specifically, are they going to refer to us to the dying, passing away members of this generation, these generations that are alive today?

SPEAKER_00: 4:26

Are they going to refer to us as the people that fought against invasion and tyranny?

SPEAKER_01: 4:35

Both external and internal, foreign and domestic, from the left and from Islam, all those bucket of isms that go under leftism.

SPEAKER_00: 4:48

Are they going to refer to us as that generation that fought against and prevailed? Or are they going to refer to us as the last generation that lost America? So the marriage verse for today comes from Hebrews 13 4. Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers, God will judge.

SPEAKER_01: 5:38

Two, obviously, based on scripture, there's hope if you fall into one of those categories of fornicators or adulterers, but not to keep on going down that path, right?

SPEAKER_00: 5:49

There's hope to turn back to God through Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_01: 5:54

And we ought to treat people that rebel against how they're supposed to function in marriage, right? Like 1 Corinthians 7 and Proverbs 519, the same way we treat people who dishonor marriage outside of marriage, adultery, fornication.

SPEAKER_00: 6:19

Scripture for today? Almost done. Then we'll have to start over again.

SPEAKER_01: 6:27

Go back to Revelation 20, verses 1 through 15. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, that old serpent who is the devil, Satan, and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked, so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads, or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him a thousand years. When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations called Gog and Magog in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle, a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore, and I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God's people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them. Then the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence. But they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne, and the books were opened, including the book of life, and the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead, and all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death, and anyone whose name was not found recorded in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Psalm one hundred forty eight verses one through fourteen. Praise the Lord. Praise him sun and moon, praise him all you twinkling stars, praise him skies above, praise him vapors high above the clouds. Let every creature, every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked. Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depth, fire and hell, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children. Let them all praise the name of the Lord, for his name is very great. His glory towers over the earth and heaven. He has made his people strong, honoring his faithful ones. The people of Israel who are close to him, praise the Lord. Proverbs thirty one verses eight and nine. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. Robert Earl Bonney Chief Water Tender, highest rank, chief machinist, warrant officer, conflict interim eighteen ninety nine to nineteen ten, USS Hopkins, US Navy, february fourteenth, nineteen ten, USS Hopkins, San Diego, California. While serving on board the USS Hopkins, Bonnie displayed extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession on the occasion of the accident to one of the boilers of that vessel, fourteenth, february, nineteen ten. Accredited to Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, not awarded posthumously. Born november twenty third, eighteen eighty two, Meryville, Blunt County, Tennessee, died november twenty second, nineteen sixty seven.

SPEAKER_00: 12:24

Buried Acacia Memorial Park, Seattle, Washington. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 12:37

Always wish on those short ones that we had a little bit more detail.

SPEAKER_00: 12:42

Especially for a lot of us because we just simply don't understand the dynamics of a boiler on a vessel like that and what how caught catastrophic that that probably was. So Christmas messages for 1950.

SPEAKER_01: 13:05

I think we've got, well, we're going to try and read at least two today. This is from President Truman in 1950, written Christmas message to the nation that was given to the press, released to the press December 22nd, 1950. All over our country and in many other parts of the world, men, women, and children are preparing to celebrate the birthday of Christ. At this season of the year we are reminded, as at no other time, of the deep and lasting truths which no man-made creed can improve upon. We turn to the teachings of the humble carpenter of Nazareth, to the Sermon on the Mount, to the twenty third and ninety-first Psalms, to the parables, and to the humble surroundings of the first Christmas. The message of Bethlehem best sums up our hopes today peace on earth, goodwill toward men. We are engaged in a great effort to strengthen the bonds of understanding among all the peoples of the earth, and to remove the fear of aggression which hangs over the world. In this effort we are inspired by the faith that peace and justice will prevail. As we light the candles on our Christmas trees this year, let us dedicate ourselves anew to the cause of peace on earth, goodwill toward men. May the blessings of Christmas be with us throughout the coming year. He also gave a radio radio address lighting the national community Christmas tree on December 24th, 1950, broadcast from the White House. My fellow Americans, at this Christmas time, whether we are at home or far away, we pause to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. This year, more than ever before, we can feel the true meaning of Christmas. We are living in a time of trouble. Our nation is at war in Korea. Many of our boys will spend Christmas Eve thousands of miles from home fighting for the cause of freedom. All over the world, men and women of goodwill are striving to overcome the forces of evil that threaten the peace of the world. We are engaged in a great crusade to defend the principles of our Christian civilization. In this holy season we are inspired by the message of hope and faith that Christmas brings. The angel's song to the shepherds on the hills of Bethlehem still rings through the centuries. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. This is the faith and the ultimate triumph of right over wrong, of love over hate, of freedom over tyranny. As we light the candles on our Christmas trees this year, let us dedicate ourselves anew to the cause of peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Let us pray that the light of Christmas will shine in the hearts of men everywhere, and that the blessings of Christmas will be with us throughout the coming year. May God bless you all and give us peace. Merry Christmas and good night. And one more, this is Christmas greeting to the member of the Armed Forces. It was recorded and then broadcast to U.S. troops worldwide on Christmas Day in 1950. To the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States, wherever you may be on this Christmas day, Mrs. Truman and I send you our warmest greetings and our heartfelt thanks. You are far from home this Christmas, but you are not forgotten. The thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with you. We are proud of the way you are carrying out your duties in defense of freedom and peace. The cause for which you stand is the cause of all free men. It is the cause of justice and righteousness throughout the world. May the Spirit of Christmas bring you strength and courage. May it bring you the assurance that the hopes and prayers of your countrymen are with you, and that the blessings of Almighty God will be with you always. Merry Christmas, and may God bless you all.

SPEAKER_00: 17:20

Harry S. Truman, Christmas, nineteen fifty.

SPEAKER_01: 17:54

You look back and you remember Robert Earl Bonney and his sacrifice, his willingness to sacrifice.

SPEAKER_00: 18:04

And you look at scripture, you go back to Revelation 20, 13 through 15. All were judged according to their deeds, and anyone whose name was not found recorded in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Thank God for him. None of us would make it in otherwise. But we are going to have to give account of our actions, folks.

SPEAKER_01: 18:43

And then you look at Proverbs 31 again, speak for those who can't speak for themselves. A lot of times today we pretend that we're being benevolent by encouraging others and sin.

SPEAKER_00: 19:00

But we're not.

SPEAKER_01: 19:53

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. It is not a temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages if you're married. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. Listening. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks.

SPEAKER_00: 20:17

Looking forward to it.