Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (44 page)

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

—2 John 6

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UGUST 10

Miracle of Radio

World War II was the first war in which radio played an important role in civilian and military communications. The science of sending code and voice transmissions through the airways was pioneered in the early 1900s, and the first commercial broadcast stations were licensed in the 1920s. One of the earliest practical uses for this new technology was communication with ships at sea, making the U.S. Navy an early and vigorous proponent of its military use. By the early 1940s commanders were able to stay in regular although sometimes tenuous contact with their ships and units around the globe. Within the civilian community, families gathered around their radio sets to be entertained and to hear the latest news of the war.

The following prayer was written by a well-known Navy chaplain in 1944 giving thanks for this marvelous invention:

Thanksgiving for Radio Communication

Infinite God, who hast founded the known upon the unknown, and hast hidden the secrets of Thy universe beneath the twin cloaks of silence and invisibility: Who has dared Man to divine the meaning that there lies hidden, and has made Man of such a disposition that he can find no satisfaction as long as there remains one unanswered question: We thank Thee for the mind and spirit, the indefatigable energy and the questing intelligence of those scientists and technicians in physics and electricity, who took Thy cosmic dare, and by the force of their insatiable curiosity and their persistent imagination made possible radio communication and brought forth from the silence of electricity the beauty of sound and from the invisibility of light the beauty of color. Thou who hearest our unspoken prayers across the unimaginable abyss of eternity; we thank Thee for all those who have helped Man to enter into communication with Man across the echoless miles with a wonder and fidelity that is akin to prayer. Amen.
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The final thought in this prayer is startling and thought provoking, comparing the communications of man through the ether with prayer to God. It is something to ponder.

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the L
ORD
our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

—Deuteronomy 4:7

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UGUST 11

Missing in Action

Marjorie and Rowland Gaunt were married in Cranston, Rhode Island, in August 1943. Within a few weeks, Rowland received his navigator’s wings and assignment to a B-17 bomber squadron in England. In March 1944 Marjorie received the dreaded telegram informing her that her husband was missing in action. For months, she lived in the limbo of not knowing. She continued her letters and her prayers in spite of the agonizing uncertainty. In November, with dwindling hope, she wrote:

Wherever you are, I know you must feel my love for you. My love has grown stronger each day and it is just bursting for expression. I’ve told you many times how much I love you, and I am so thankful for that now… Please, darling… keep your eyes uplifted and trust in God. I’ve prayed continually for His protection over you and His guidance during these long trying months. I pray for Him to give you patience and to bless you and make you strong. Oh, that I might bear it for you. I would gladly die that you might come back to those that love you and live gloriously to serve humanity and God… Be strong, my darling. May God give you courage, patience and strength that will carry you triumphantly through your ordeals to lasting peace, gentleness and love.
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Unfortunately, these prayers were not answered as Marjorie hoped they would be. Rowland was lost at sea in February 1944 when his B-17 was shot down off the coast of Denmark. It was not until 1945 that she was officially informed of his death by the War Department. Marjorie’s courage and faithfulness sustained her during this long ordeal and are a strong witness to the power of faith in such a bleak time. Her prayers may not have been rewarded in this life as she had hoped, but we can rest in the assurance that God’s will was accomplished and that this brave couple will triumphantly find lasting peace and love together in eternity.

And the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.

—Mark 10:89

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UGUST 12

Physical Separation

Erman Southwick was inducted into the Army in 1943 and served in Europe for most of the war. He was sustained during this separation by a lively correspondence with his wife, Flora, at home in Marietta, Ohio. Her words made a moving case that she and Erman were not really separated by the miles between them:

When I get a letter from you I try to make a mental picture of all the things you tell me and then knowing you as I do I work out just how you reacted to what you said and the expression on your face. It makes me feel so close to you and through every line of your letters is the assurance over and over again of your love and that gives me a safe warm feeling inside. You see, darling, I just love you so much, I don’t really recognize any separation from you. They can separate us physically and that is pretty hard to take sometimes but when there is complete emotional and intellectual unity between two people to really separate them is impossible.
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This couple demonstrates the biblical model of marriage: “So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate”(Matthew 19:6). Even though separated by time and distance, they remained united in spirit. The marriage relationship is intended to be an everlasting bond between a man and a woman reflecting the depth of our relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. With the words “complete emotional and intellectual unity” this young woman perfectly captures the essence of that higher unity promised by the apostle Paul. In one of the most moving passages of Scripture, we receive a vision of the spiritual unity in Jesus Christ that will prevail through every hardship:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 8:38–39

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UGUST 13

Pocket Prayers

In 1941 the Episcopal Church of the United States published a small booklet for soldiers and sailors that could be carried in their pockets wherever they went. It included an Order of Worship, Holy Communion, prayers, psalms, readings, and hymns. All these were selected to meet the needs of military men and women. Some of the prayers are especially poignant and universally relevant:
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For God’s Help

Grant us, O Lord, in all our duties thy help, in all our perplexities thy counsel, in all our dangers thy protection, and in all our sorrows thy peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour, Amen.

Grant us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Fidelity

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Loyalty

Almighty God, grant us thy gift of loyalty. For our homes, give us love and obedience; for our country, sacrifice and service; for our Church, reverence and devotion; and in everything make us true to thee; through thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

For Loyalty to Our Homes

Grant, O Lord, to those in the service of their country who have left wives and children at home, a steadfast loyalty through all the days of separation, that returning at length to their beloved they may know the joy of unbroken fidelity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The L
ORD
has heard my cry for mercy; the L
ORD
accepts my prayer.

—Psalm 6:9

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UGUST 14

Pride and Anguish

Gabriel Navarro was a first-generation immigrant from Mexico living in Houston, Texas. His son, Porifirio, was a Marine corporal fighting somewhere in the Pacific. Mr. Navarro’s letter to his son reflects the mixture of intense pride and anxiety felt by World War II parents:

It has been one year to the day that, courageous and optimistic, full of faith and love of country, you left our side to join the armed forces of America. The forces of Democracy and Liberty. Twelve months of absence, during which time our thoughts and my paternal affection have followed you step by step across an ocean full of dangers… My heart stops beating when I think of death extending its wings over your head.

The courage and enthusiasm which you demonstrated upon leaving us to answer your country’s call, which needs the help of its children, filled me with satisfaction and pride. And you may be sure that your mother, who gave you life, also covers you with benedictions and prayers, just as your mother country covers you with its flag.
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I believe that the most difficult test of faith for any person is to have a son or daughter in a life-threatening situation. This anxiety is prolonged and even more acute during wartime, when duty calls the child to face danger over a long period of time. We might see the higher purpose and feel pride in their devotion to an important cause. Nevertheless, as the parents of today’s military men and women can attest, the worry is still crushing. There is only one source of effective relief from this degree of anxiety, and that is our Savior, Jesus Christ. During his ministry he explained and modeled the perfect love that our heavenly Father has for his children. He is always there to ease our burdens and to take our anxieties upon himself. His constant care and concern is the ultimate source of comfort in this life and in the eternal future.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

—Matthew 6:26–27

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UGUST 15

Rationing

By early 1943 shortages of food, gasoline, and other war materiel were beginning to be felt throughout the nation. Renee Pike gave a sense of what it was like on the home front in letters to her husband, George:

Rosie the Riveter poster. (National Archives)

Boy, what I wouldn’t give for a nice banana. But that is just wishful thinking. I don’t think anyone in America has seen a banana for over six months… the civilian population is certainly feeling the shortage of food-stuffs now. Last week we didn’t have a scratch of butter in the house from Monday until Friday… It’s a lot worse on we people in the country than it is on the city folks. They can go out and get some kind of meat every day while we have plenty of meatless days up here. They can also stand in line for 2 or 3 hours for a pound of butter, but up here there are no lines as there is no butter… Yesterday I didn’t take any meat… because I’m sick of the same thing. You see, the thing that they have the most of is sausages but people can’t keep eating the same thing every day.
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