Lynch and 4,000 armed Guardsmen forever changed history and were
instrumental in acting to secure freedom and civil rights for all Americans.
Unidentified soldier watches over marchers in this photo.

Like Moses, Lt. Col. Leonard P. Lynch and 4,000 National Guard troops parted the waters of hatred and opened the road from Selma to Montgomery to enable Martin Luther King, Jr. and thousands of marchers to reach Montgomery without bloodshed on March 21-25, 1965.

Often society is not aware of the complex mechanisms which play a 
role in the making of history.  That is particularly the case 
when it comes to military operations which are classified and 
kept secret to prevent the enemy or opposition forces (political 
or military) from knowing how plans, strategy and missions are 
designed and implemented.  This is done for national security 
reasons and relates directly to protecting the lives of men who 
may be called upon to carry out future military operations.

Because my father, Lt. Col. Leonard P. Lynch, was a military 
officer, much of his work in the U.S. Army was classified.  This 
was because he served during WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War 
and the Viet Nam War in operations vital to national security and 
defense both at home and abroad.  It was a period when it was 
vital to national security to keep secret details of military 
operations from the Soviet Union and their allied communist 
nations.

However, some of my father's work became known to me as his son 
through stories he related, especially during long conversations 
with his wife.  Although this did not involve revelations of 
classified material it did make me aware of the fact that my 
father was involved in some very historic events, and that his 
work was critical to our nation's security.

I recently reviewed official documents in the Lynch Family 
Archives which detailed my father's duty, achievement and 
commendations as a career Army officer.  These included 
certificates, letters of appreciation, metal awards, photographs, 
personal letters and other original manuscripts.  Coupled with 
personal accounts of his duty these records serve to testify to 
my father's participation in historical events.  There is no doubt 
from these records that my father did, indeed, play a vital role 
in maintaining national security and preserving the freedom and 
liberty of all Americans.

It may be argued that my father achieved only the rank of 
Lieutenant Colonel by the time of his retirement in late 1967.  
However, that is no minor accomplishment and in a way his ranking 
made him more personally involved with the soldiers under his 
command.  It also contributed to his intimate involvement with 
the duty to which he was assigned.  In fact the soldiers out 
there on the line, in direct field command of operations are 
often the ones who make the greatest sacrifices for their 
country.

An example of this sacrifice was my father's service during the 
Viet Nam War.  During this period he was assigned the duty of 
informing, in person, the wife and children of soldiers killed in 
action, that their loved one would not be coming home. This duty 
bore very heavy upon my father's heart, causing great stress, 
mental and emotional anguish and sympathetic suffering.  It was a 
factor in his service related disability and contributed to his 
early death in 1973 of heart failure.

But my father loved his life as a soldier.  Soldiering was an 
honorable profession, one which gave him an opportunity to serve 
his country and make the world safe for democracy.  It is the 
career soldiers who dedicate their lives to duty, honor, God and 
country, who make great daily sacrifice, who we should strive to 
emulate and remember.  My father was such a soldier.  He was one 
of many who made the sacrifices which have made our nation the 
greatest of free nations.  Least we lose that freedom we must 
remember our soldier fathers, for they gave their lives for all 
our children that we each might realize that dream that is most 
precious to our hearts.

When Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned going to the mountain top 
and seeing a day when all God's children would be free, he saw 
the same dream my father worked each day of his life to realize.  
King was a faithful orator marching for freedom and speaking from 
the pulpit.  My father was a soldier moving men and munitions, 
working behind the scenes to preserve democracy and secure 
freedom.  These were both great men and their destiny crossed 
those fateful days of March 21-25, 1965 during the Selma to 
Montgomery Civil Rights March.

It was during these few days that my father and 4,000 National 
Guard troops had the duty to watch over and protect the marchers 
who made the journey down the road, through the rain, over the 
hills, from Selma to Montgomery to the very steps of the state 
Capitol to protest for their voting rights.  All the way from 
Selma to Montgomery armed troops watched over the marchers.  They 
encircled the marchers at night to safe guard them.  They flew 
over head in helicopters to make surveillance.  They stood in 
harms way between segregationists and marchers.  They broke up 
disturbances at the first signs of trouble to avoid bloodshed.  
Their escort preceded the marchers with an Army jeep with a big 
yellow sign saying, "Caution. Marchers ahead.  Keep right."  They 
were the guardian angels watching over the marchers to secure 
their safety that they might reach the Capitol without bloodshed 
when the State of Alabama and the Governor of Alabama had 
forsaken them.

Had neither of these great personalities, Rev. King and Lt. Col. 
Lynch, graced our nation and our lives, history would have taken 
a different course and our lives would all be darker today. For 
one led the way with God, but the other insured the passage with 
arms!

The soldier carries a weapon and by force of arms marches into 
history.  He is one we should honor and respect, for without his 
sacrifice we none would be able to speak our minds or our hearts 
from any podium or pulpit across this great land.  I, too, have 
seen the mountain and have climbed to the top.  The promise land 
that awaits is one we and our fathers have made.  You are invited 
to join me there, by remembering the soldier who defends our 
country and the reverend who work for a better life for all God's 
children here on earth.

I hope that this insight into my father's life and work will help 
all achieve their dreams and goals.  Somehow it makes a 
difference to know others have gone before us, have struggled, 
have made sacrifices and have made our lives some how easier.  If 
we remember them and learn from their struggles and achievements 
our lives will surely be blessed.