Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (45 page)

Since our more recent wars in Vietnam and the Middle East have produced so much controversy, many are amazed at the national unity evidenced during World War II. This letter gives us an insight into how that unity came in large part from the sense of shared sacrifice by both the military and civilian populace. Every American had his or her part to play. Our subsequent armed conflicts have not touched most of the nation other than our military servicemen and their families. Somehow, we have been involved in wars where large numbers of our citizens have had no underlying perception that the nation’s survival was at stake. If we are going to send our sons and daughters to war, it should be a matter of our survival as a nation, and the effort should involve sacrifice on the part of every American.

Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds…?

—Deuteronomy 4:33–34

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UGUST 16

Sex Rank

Men are generally clueless about what women are thinking. One anonymous member of the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force revealed some startling insights into her own thoughts about what she termed, “The Great Man-Chase.”

To get a man is not sufficient. It’s easy to get a man. In fact it’s difficult not to. The desirable qualities are rank, wings, looks, money, youth in that order. Rank is unbelievably important… the height of sex-rank is commission and wings. Higher commission, the better. Sergeant pilots and ground commissions tie for second place. This includes Army officers. Ground stripes come a poor third. In terms of “looks” I include charm, personality, etc. This counts only as a narrow comparison viz Pilot Officer A is better than Pilot Officer B because he is more charming, but we’d rather go out with Pilot Officer B who is not charming, than with Sergeant C who is(and he’s good looking too).
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It’s hard to know how serious these comments were meant to be. I tend to think that this young girl from a bygone era was having some fun with her readers. However, there is clearly some truth revealed in this little essay. In
The Screwtape Letters
, C. S. Lewis also gives us some truth about sexual attraction in his own unique tongue-in-cheek fashion. We hear the older devil instructing his nephew on the physical type of woman best suited for his “patient”:

This question is decided for us by spirits far deeper down in the Lowerarchy than you and I. It is the business of these great masters to produce in every age a general misdirection of what may be called sexual “taste.” They do this by working through the small circle of popular artists, dressmakers, actresses, and advertisers who determine the fashionable type. The aim is to guide each sex away from those members of the other with whom spiritually helpful, happy, and fertile marriages are most likely.
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The ironic humor in this passage makes us laugh, until we realize the seriousness of the truth being presented. We have an adversary seeking to direct our attention away from those qualities in others most beneficial to our spiritual health and long-term happiness. When we are drawn to the superficial and trivial aspects of appearance and personality, we pass up the opportunity to find deeper relationships based on character. This insight is important in our friendships, but is absolutely critical to our selection of potential lifelong partners.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the L
ORD
is to be praised.

—Proverbs 31:28–30

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UGUST 17

The Conductor

Denton Dabbs enlisted in the Naval Air Corps in 1942. His hometown was Chattanooga, Tennessee, and his first assignments were to bases in Alabama during the different stages of his training. After a few weeks at Cortland, he spent three months at Montgomery for pre-flight instruction, and then ended up at Decatur for flight school. All these towns lay along the Southern Railway’s main line from Memphis to Chattanooga. On weekend leaves he had the way to get home, if not the funds to pay for all the trips he would have liked. This problem was unexpectedly solved on his first trip.

Soon after boarding the train at Cortland the conductor observed his uniform and asked him if he was going home on leave. Denton told him that he was. The conductor then told him to keep his ticket, that he might want to use it again. The same conductor extended that privilege as long as the train rides continued. Denton Dabbs would never forget this small kindness.

I still remember the old gentleman who was the conductor on that train and how nice he was to me. He made his job pleasant by being friendly with all of the passengers. I can still picture his face and his conductor’s uniform with shiny brass buttons and the little bill-cap he wore on his head. Somehow he knew I was just a kid in a topsy-turvy world torn apart by the war, going home to see someone I loved. He might have had kids of his own out there somewhere, but somehow he knew that little piece of paper I held in my hand was important to me and maybe I would get another chance to visit home. He was a kind old gentleman and I shall always remember him.
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Jesus told his disciples that he would remember those in heaven who were kind to him when he was in need. His listeners wondered: What could they possibly do to help the Son of God? We wonder the same thing and are not even sure how we would recognize him if we saw him. Jesus gave us the simple answer. We serve him when we serve those we meet every day.

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

—Matthew 25:40

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UGUST 18

The Dream

In December 1943 Jennie Cesternino dreamed of her son, Leonard, who at that time was fighting in Italy. She described the dream in a letter to him:

You know son I’m feeling happy today. The reason is I dreamed about you last night and I saw you very plain in my dreams and that made me very happy. It was just like really seeing you.

I dreamed you came in from work from Tony’s and you came in all smiles and you said to me Ma you better send my pants to the cleaners because I have a date for tonight.

It really made me happy to see you even though it was only a dream…
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Unfortunately, Leonard was mortally wounded in action at about this time. The family believes that his death occurred on the night of his mother’s dream. Perhaps this is one of those tragic coincidences that make an interesting story. Or, could this be an example of God’s amazing grace, giving a mother and son a last reunion? I prefer to believe the latter. After being separated by time and distance for many months, Mrs. Cisternino and Leonard were given a moment together in anticipation of a greater reunion to come. The poet, Robert Browning, described his faith that he would be together again with his beloved wife in heaven:

For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave.
The black minute’s at end,
And the elements’ rage, the fiend voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain.
Then a light, then thy breast,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!
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Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

—1 Thessalonians 4:13–14

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UGUST 19

The Risen Soldier

Francis Spellman, the Archbishop of New York and later Cardinal, hated the war and its powers of destruction. At times it seemed to him that God’s kingdom of love on Earth was almost at the point of being overwhelmed. He felt that this blanket of darkness was in danger of covering the planet, unless mankind could learn the lesson of peace from the soldiers doing the fighting. He saw these brave young men and women as Christ-like figures, willingly exposing themselves to death in the hope that something good would grow from their sacrifice. He grew to love and respect these soldiers and wrote a moving poem in tribute to them and the cause for which they had to fight:

I am the risen soldier; though I die
I shall live on and, living, still achieve
My country’s mission Liberty in truth
And truth in Charity. I am aware
God made me for this nobler flight and fight,
A higher course than any I had deemed
Could ever be; and having found my course,
Whether I ground my plane on the home field
Or plunge a flaming banner from the skies,
I shall not turn again to petty things,
Nor change my plan of life till God has sealed
My papers with His seal. And if it be
My blood should mingle reverently with Christ’s,
His Son’s, in this my final missioning,
Shall I not whisper with my dying breath
“Lord, it is sweet to die as it were good
To live, to strive for these United States,
Which, in Your wisdom, you have willed should be
A beacon to the world, a living shrine
Of Liberty and Charity and Peace.”
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We can only pray that our nation continues to fulfill God’s purpose as a beacon of freedom to the world, and that America will always be worthy of such a prayer.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

—Isaiah 53:5

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UGUST 20

Our Love Is of God

Isabel Alden and Maurice Kidder were students together at the University of New Hampshire. They were married in 1935, the year Maurice graduated. He attended a theological seminary in Boston and entered the Army as a chaplain when the war broke out. Separated for three years, Isabel wrote countless letters. On hearing the news of the Normandy invasion, her sense of danger was heightened, as well as her faith in the relationship between God, her husband, and herself. At that fearful time she wrote:

I have thousands of things I could say right now. I am about to take the train for Boston… for I simply feel I have to go someplace where I can worship… We shall be closer than ever, I feel sure. Do not lose courage, and do everything the best possible that you can. I know you will be a tower of strength to your men. I know too that God will be with you, not in the sense of miraculously taking care of your physical body, but taking care of your spirit so that it can withstand whatever comes upon it. I am not alarmed. I am excited. I am relieved with a terrible relief. I am afraid, but I know your fear is infinitely worse than mine. I love you to the utmost that I am capable of, and our love is of God. Be with God, and you are with me, as I am with you.
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From a dark time in our history Isabel has given us a witness to the power of a sustaining faith. She was confident in her husband’s love because she knew that that love was from God and was blessed by God. With God at the center of a relationship, we can be assured that it will remain strong through every trial. When our love for God is intertwined with our love for another person, no physical event will impact our spiritual unity with that person or with our heavenly Father.

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

—John 17:22–23

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UGUST 21

D-Day Prayer for the Troops

During the evening of June 6, 1944, as American, British, and Canadian troops were fighting to establish a beachhead on the coast of Normandy, President Franklin Roosevelt went on the radio to lead the nation in a D-Day prayer:

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success so far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.