Reverend J. Paws & Watson
They Serve Us Well
By Reverend Judy A. Stanley

Memorials and tributes, “thank yous,” and “love yous”—can any one person or praiseworthy group have too many? I don’t think so. From May Day to Memorial Day, there’s plenty of time to honor those we love, the living and the dead. From May 1 to May 31, there’s enough time, surely there is, to pay tribute to those who serve and have served us well, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
(And there’s June – April to plan some extra tributes and events for famous folks and those unsung heroes and heroes from here.)

May is a delightful and appropriate month to visit cemeteries and to gather around band shelters to honor veterans, loved ones, civic leaders, and various uniformed personnel who serve us well, often as volunteers in service to us all. After a long, cold winter season, all of us are eager to come out of hibernation to join other community members in our parks and public places while bands play and rousing remarks are made.

Rev. Dr. Watson, my canine colleague, wants to venture to Alaska and New
York to see his favorite statues honoring the magnificent dogs Balto and Togo. These two Siberian Huskies and their sled teammates brought life-saving serum to stem the epidemic of diphtheria that was raging in and around Nome, Alaska, in 1925.

Their legendary feat was accomplished in six short 24-hour periods in the midst of winter. It all started when two of a certain Dr. Welch’s patients died suddenly, and, as he made his rounds in an Inuit Eskimo community, he determined that many other children were in danger of imminent death from diphtheria. The doctor responded quickly, informing the town council of the epidemic and urging a quarantine be established. Dr. Welch knew that a quarantine alone would not be enough. He needed medicine, and the nearest diphtheria serum was 1,000 miles away on a shelf in Anchorage. As he considered the bleak situation, severe winter storms were threatening. Blizzard conditions and record below-zero temperatures were forecast. Relying on planes was out of the question; it would be too risky. The only remaining hope to get the life-saving serum to this isolated community lay with skilled and brave men and loyal dogs.

Due to the rapid response of the dog teams and their drivers, the serum was safely in the doctor’s hands a mere six long days of hard sledding after his call for help.     

Overnight, word spread of the legendary feat performed by over 160 dogs with names like Togo, Balto, Jack, and Scotty and the fearless men who led them, Leonard Seppala and Bill Shannon. This story is but one unique example of how God’s creatures can do God and all of creation proud.

It is the honorable task of each of us as the beneficiaries of the sacrifices of so many others, most of whose names we will never know, to be entrusted with their memories. Let our gratitude be evident as the stories of those who have served us nobly and well are told and retold.

Reverend J. Paws (Judy A. Stanley) is pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania.Contact her at Paws@mountainhomemag.com.