Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (56 page)

This proved to be an important action in the drama on Omaha Beach. Haas had opened up one of the vital egress routes off the beach, allowing his comrades to advance onto the high ground beyond. Not long after, he was moving past the destroyed bunker:

There were the Germans we had shot. They were in an awful state. And you could say, “Look, thousands of our guys were hit, and I don’t know how many dead.” Yet when I saw what we had done, I didn’t feel too good. Because I had never really hurt anybody before. Those Germans were our enemies, and yet to see those guys bleeding from the mouth… They just lay out there on the bunker. I don’t know if they lived or not.
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We read the description of battles and see the casualty figures, and think that we understand what happened. However, we either have to see it for ourselves, or we have to read a first person account such as this, to truly grasp the tragedy. Combat is not a video game. Men inflict real pain and suffering on each other, and many do not survive. Fortunately, humanity does not disappear entirely, as the conscience of this young soldier proves. He did his job, but he didn’t feel good about it. Hopefully we will always find young men of such character to defend our nation.

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

—Hebrews 9:14

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CTOBER 13

Follow Me

The first wave to hit Omaha Beach was devastated. As the ramp dropped on his landing craft, Chuck Hurlbut stepped into the water and quickly saw the ranks of his unit shredded by enemy gunfire. He struggled through the surf to the sound of explosions, small arms fire, and the cries of wounded soldiers. Somehow he made it across the beach to the dune line, where he found more devastation and chaos. He didn’t know where he was or where the others in his unit were. There were no leaders, only other scared and disoriented soldiers like himself. Looking seaward he saw landing craft burning and bodies all over the beach. The rumor swept through the dispirited men that the invasion on Omaha Beach had failed and that those there were stranded. He wondered where they would go. Into the water? At this dark moment he witnessed an amazing phenomenon:

All of a sudden, a guy here, a guy there, a sergeant here, “Come on guys, let’s go get them.” They started up. They got these snipers along the way. They blew out a pillbox. About 1 o’clock, 1:30, up on a hill, way up on the horizon, I saw some Yank ees, waving, “Come on up! Come on up!” And whoever those guys were, they were the heroes. They lacked the leadership but they had that initiative, the soldier quality, that said, “We’re not gonna die here. Let’s go get these guys!”
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The hallmark of American fighting men in World War II and in the present day is summed up in one word: initiative. When officers are not physically present, small-unit leaders and individual soldiers step up to do what needs to be done. This is partly due to training, and partly due to something in the American character. The individualism and personal responsibility that we see in our soldiers are by-products of the freedom that they enjoy as Americans. This freedom was God’s gift at the founding of this nation and the reason he has blessed America throughout much of her history.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

—Galatians 5:1

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CTOBER 14

Fieldstripping an M-1

James Jordan was in the first wave on Omaha Beach. His landing craft took a direct hit from an artillery shell that killed many of his fellow soldiers instantly. He went into the water and found himself sinking under the weight of a seventy-five-pound pack and weapon. Fortunately, he was able to ditch all his gear, make his way back to the surface, and swim to shore. He recalled, “As badly as things had begun for me, once I made the beach, it got worse.”
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Picking up an abandoned M-1 rifle, Jordan moved forward under heavy machine-gun fire to a seawall where he found what was left of his platoon. He described what he did next:

I then discovered the rifle I had picked up from the beach wouldn’t fire, probably due to being clogged with sand. I picked up a second rifle that was on the beach close to the sea wall. This one wouldn’t fire either. After the third rifle I found wouldn’t fire, I realized I would have to clean it in order to have a functioning weapon. So, while still behind the sea wall, I stripped down the M-1 and cleaned the trigger housing with a toothbrush that I still had from one of my pockets. That one worked.
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This story reminded me of my first training as a Marine officer candidate at Quantico, Virginia. Fieldstripping and cleaning our rifles was a daily ritual. To emphasize the importance of a clean weapon, our young sergeant-instructor told us how he had lost his rifle cleaning kit while fighting in Korea and had used his toothbrush for weeks to clean his M-1. At the time, the concept of putting a clean rifle ahead of oral hygiene was not easy for a group of college boys to swallow. Just like Private 1
^st
Class Jordan in this story, we all learned differently later. Without a functioning weapon, a Marine or soldier in combat is pretty useless and helpless.

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the apostle Paul described the spiritual armor available to Christians, including our primary and only offensive weapon: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”(Ephesians 6:17). Burnishing this sword through frequent study and application should be our own daily ritual.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

—Ephesians 6:11

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CTOBER 15

First through the Wire

Harley Reynolds was supposed to land after the first assault wave on Omaha Beach. However, the first wave was late and his was early. He quickly lost men in his machine-gun section as he tried to get a foothold on the fire-swept beach. Trying to explain it, he said, “Confusion doesn’t describe it.” For a while his constant thought was, “What’s keeping me up? I must be hit. Too many bullets were flying not to be hit.”
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The first cover he spotted was a raised roadbed running along the beach where he found respite from the heavy fire. He gathered his men there as best he could, trying to figure out what to do next. Barbed wire on the road and a wire fence beyond blocked the advance. The incoming tide would soon make his safe spot untenable.

Help soon arrived in the form of a small soldier with a long bangalore torpedo. Exposing himself to enemy fire, the soldier moved up to slide the torpedo under the wire and then inserted a fuse lighter. When the charge detonated Reynolds didn’t hesitate:

My head was three or four feet from the torpedo and I was closest to the path it blew in the wire. My men were behind me better than we had even done in practice. I went through the trip wire high stepping just as we did on obstacle courses. I was running so fast I hadn’t made up my mind what to do about the wire fence until I faced it. I literally dove through in a sideways dive… Troops on the beach seemed to be holding back but not for long.
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Staff Sergeant Reynolds was later credited with being the first man through the barbed wire on this beach. He played a critical role in opening the way for others to fight their way forward to the high ground needed to secure the beachhead. For his heroic actions he was awarded the Bronze Star, French Croix de Guerre, and Purple Heart. His courage inspired many others on Omaha Beach and continues to inspire us today.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the L
ORD
your God will be with you wherever you go.

—Joshua 1:9

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CTOBER 16

To Train for the Kingdom

Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift.
We have hard work to do and loads to lift.
Shun not the struggle,
Face it: ’tis God’s gift.
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This poem was prominently posted on Lt. John Burkhalter’s trunk and gave a glimpse of his character. Burkhalter was a highly decorated chaplain with the 1
^st
Division, landing early on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He had been ordained in 1935 and served as pastor of a Florida church until he enlisted in the Army in 1942 at age thirty-three. He was a former National Championship high school football player and professional boxer for eight years. With the 1
^st
Division, he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action after heroically exposing himself to enemy fire to recover casualties. He looked and lived like a true combat chaplain, as evident in a colleague’s description:

He stands before his congregation in a faded fatigue uniform, feet braced, chest thrown out, jaw thrust forward. His strong-looking hands hold firmly to the hymn book. He stands there, a powerful figure, his eyes meeting every man’s glance like a boxer looking for an opening. When he talks he speaks like a coach addressing a group of athletes in training. He doesn’t harangue or plead or scold. His words carry his own conviction and confidence in what he is saying. This is the way to train for the Kingdom of God, he implies in his manner, hands on hips, head thrust forward slightly. These are the things to do. This is how to do them.
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If you believe the axiom that, “young men don’t need counselors, they need role models,”you can visualize this man as a perfect military chaplain. His appearance, his attitude, and his faithfulness inspired men who were not easily impressed, as he successfully took the Word of God into a difficult and dangerous venue. His life was an inspiration then and now to live and act boldly for God’s kingdom, epitomizing the words of the old hymn: “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross!”
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David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the L
ORD
Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

—1 Samuel 17:45

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CTOBER 17

I Was Talking to Him

Chaplain John Burkhalter suffered with his men on Omaha Beach. He saw landing craft obliterated by direct hits and countless men cut down as they tried to reach the shore. He saw wave after wave pile up on the beach, unable to advance. Every advantage seemed to be with the Germans and every disadvantage with his troops. Through it all he prayed earnestly, with faith that only God could see anyone safely through such a nightmare. In retrospect he was certain that he would never forget those moments. He knew that during the ordeal he had drawn very close to God. In a letter to his wife, he explained:

Nobody can love God better than when he is looking death square in the face and talks to God and then sees God come to the rescue. As I look back through hectic days just gone by to that hellish beach I agree with Ernie Pyle that, “it was a pure miracle we ever took the beach at all.”
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Yes, there were a lot of miracles on the beach that day. God was on the beach D-Day; I know He was because I was talking to Him.
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This story must surely prove beyond doubt that it is possible to find God in any situation. If this man could survive Omaha Beach with that conviction, we can have faith that God will be with us in our day-to-day crises. We can also see here an even more amazing attribute of God. Our relationship with him actually grows stronger as our plight worsens and our reliance on him deepens. We may have to look back to see it, but our personal lows can be and often are our spiritual highs. Have faith that, no matter what pain you are in, he is there when you keep “talking to Him.”

I will proclaim the name of the L
ORD
. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

—Deuteronomy 32:34