A small country church in Carthage, Missouri wanted to honor veterans and soldiers during their Vacation Bible School.  The military banned troops from going to the event.

Paramedics, police and firefighters in the community showed up Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to talk to the kids, teach them some basics of their jobs and receive thanks for their efforts to make the community better.

On Thursday, when the National Guard was supposed to show up, no one was there.

The military told the National Guard troops they were banned from the event and if they showed up at all on the grounds of the church they could face discipline.  The military said that just the presence of the troops or any National Guard asset meant they were sponsoring the Baptist religion.”

The military officers were more concerned about someone who is not a Christian being offended by the troops appearing at the church than they were about any Christians who might be upset at being told they weren’t worth visiting.

The Missouri National Guard reportedly tried to do all they could to attend the event but it was at the federal level where the ban on associating with Christians was ordered.

National Guard troops were furious at the Defense Department’s actions.

“We had a lot of disappointed kiddos because of the National Guard being unwilling to allow a Humvee and a few soldiers to spend an hour at a Baptist Church,” a Guardsman said. “It makes we wonder what I’m actually fighting for.”