Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (62 page)

Your Cross

The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents you as a gift from His inmost heart. The cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with loving arms, and weighed with His loving hands to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His holy name, anointed it with His grace, perfumed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you and alms of the all merciful love of God.
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I now carry this prayer in my own wallet as a constant reminder that God will not give me more to do or to bear in this life than I can handle. With Him beside me I can endure any trial and see any task through to completion. Jesus said, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). We can have faith that, whatever cross we bear, it is the cross that he has given us. He will also give us the strength to carry it.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

—Luke 9:23

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OVEMBER 16

Chaplain’s Letter

In December 1944, Chaplain (Col.) James O’Neill published a Training Letter to the 486 chaplains of the 3
^rd
Army under his supervision. At the request of his commanding general, more than three thousand copies of the letter were printed so that distribution could be made to unit commanders as well. The subject was prayer:

Our glorious march from the Normandy Beach across France to where we stand, before and beyond the Siegfried Line, with the wreckage of the German Army behind us, should convince the most skeptical soldier that God has ridden with our banner.

As chaplains it is our business to pray. We preach its importance. We urge its practice. But the time is now to intensify our faith in prayer, not alone with ourselves, but with every believing man, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or Christian, in the ranks of the Third United States Army.

Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for Victory, Pray for our Army, and pray for Peace.

Now is not the time to follow God from ‘afar off.’ This Army needs the assurance and faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail.
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The apostle Paul urged the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing”(1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV). Chaplain O’Neill gives us a simple explanation of this difficult concept. We can certainly pray in church or any other quiet place. However, we can also converse with God while walking, driving, or in the midst of a crowd. When Jesus said to “go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father”(Matthew 6:6), he was telling believers to go within themselves. We can do this anywhere. What goes on within, between God and us, is more important than the place where it happens.

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?”

—Luke 18:67

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OVEMBER 17

Nativity Scene

In the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge the advancing German forces overran the 106
^th

Infantry Division and took more than seven thousand prisoners. Chaplain Paul Cavanaugh was among this group of unfortunate men who found themselves herded onto trains without heat or food in bitter winter conditions. For days they suffered from extreme cold and hunger as they traveled farther and farther east. They were finally discharged from the train to a prison camp at a place called Bad Orb, Germany. Forced into makeshift barracks, they found little improvement in their living conditions. Food was scarce, heat nonexistent, and the guards brutal.

In this desolate situation Chaplain Cavanaugh and the men of the 106
^th
observed Christmas Eve 1944. Under these conditions they came closer to the actual poverty of the Nativity scene than could possibly be experienced in an actual church. As the men huddled together to fight the cold, the chaplain spoke a few words that he later thought might have been the “best Christmas sermon he would ever give.” He talked to them about the blessed night in another faraway place long before, when God demonstrated for all time his love for mankind. He assured his fellow soldiers that this love continued for each one of them individually, in spite of their misery and isolation. He told them that God’s love was present even there in the frozen barracks of a prisoner-of-war camp.
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The chaplain prayed, “Lord, grant peace to the world… Grant that the peace which Christ, who is called the Prince of Peace, came to bring us may be established all over the world.” In the deep silence lasting through the night after this impromptu service, Paul Cavanaugh felt at long last that all was “still and calm and peaceful” over this modern nativity scene.
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Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

—John 14:27

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OVEMBER 18

Prayer in a Burning Tank

Charles Ziers was the new man in a veteran crew. He looked to the old-timers for support in his first action. His sergeant told him, “Ziers, just keep your eyes and ears open and do as I have shown you and you’ll come out on top.”
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These were the last words spoken to him by the sergeant. Ziers’ Sherman tank was part of the leading element in an attack on enemy hilltop positions holding up the division advance toward Cologne. Incoming fire was heavy. Suddenly there was a brilliant flash and explosion, and everything went dark.

Not knowing at first if he was dead or alive, Ziers slowly began to smell gasoline and gun powder. He realized that his tank was on fire and that his fellow crewmen were either dead or gone. He knew that he had to get out of the tank before it exploded, but the barrel of the main gun was blocking his hatch. Bleeding and in pain, the trapped soldier “prayed like never before.”
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Ziers passed out again briefly, and, when his head cleared, suddenly knew he was going to get out of that tank. He said, “Thank you Lord,” and started looking for the way. He finally saw it:

There was a narrow passage of about 2 ft. leading across to the driver’s compartment. If I could fit through that tiny space I would be home free. After many attempts I finally took off all of my clothes… with still no success. The smoke got thicker and I became more desperate. Finally I found a bucket of grease under my seat and smeared it all around the hole. Still no luck. I smeared the rest of the grease all over my body and then somehow with the Grace of God, I was free.
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This story has such an obvious spiritual meaning that it is practically a sermon by itself: if you find yourself in a tight spot, “Pray like never before.” God will show you a way. Unfortunately, we often have to come to our wit’s end to reaffirm this truth for ourselves. We should always remember that God is waiting for us to bring our problems and our crises to him.

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the L
ORD
will give you.

—2 Chronicles 20:17

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OVEMBER 19

Christ, The Risen Soldier

Archbishop Francis Spellman’s classic
The Risen Soldier
was published in 1944. This little book was a poignant tribute to the men and women serving their country in wartime. It was adamant in its denunciation of war but profuse in its praise for those bearing the burden of it. Throughout the book he drew parallels between these soldiers and a greater Soldier, the greatest sacrificial figure of all time: Jesus Christ.

Yes, it was another Soldier, One Who had vision and a mission beyond the grave, a Soldier Who died for something good to save His fellow men…

He is a warrior “Heaven-flung and heart fleshed.” He too is wearing a helmet, “the helmet of salvation.” He is armed with “the sword of the spirit against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.” He too is a Pilot to all who go down to the sea in ships, to all who take wings and fly through the air, to all who walk human pathways.

This Soldier said: “He that shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.”… All men were His brothers and to them He gave a new commandment, that they love one another. He was a Captain who bivouacked with his men, sharing privations and hardships.

The other Soldier returns to tell me that Love never sacrifices in vain. He bids me look with shining eyes towards the day when men, “shall turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles.”
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The greatest Soldier has also been called the Prince of Peace. His message of love and forgiveness opened the sure path to God and ultimate peace for every human being. We may not see peace on Earth until the end days, but on the personal level, it is available in our lives every day. Our Lord and Savior waits for our response.

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

—Ephesians 2:17–18

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OVEMBER 20

They Gave All They Had

As American soldiers advanced through Europe they encountered vast numbers of refugees whose plight was stark and heartbreaking. The war had shattered their homes, families, and communities. Chaplain Rabbi David Eichhorn had a special concern for the beleaguered Jewish remnants scattered through each country. In the little village of Rosieres-aux-Salines he found twenty-two Jewish women, aged sixty-eight to ninety-seven, whose husbands had been deported early in the war. The wives were left deliberately as a burden on the rest of the village. The chaplain found them in two rooms of a hospital, dirty and half-starved. After supplying food, clothing, and fuel to keep them alive, he went about raising money for their continued care. His account is uplifting:

The soldiers in the past two weeks have given me over $800 to help these and other Jewish refugees who needed help. God bless the American Army and American Jewish soldiers. There is no other Army like it in the whole world. I had to plead with these men not to give me as much as they wanted to give. Many of them wanted to empty their pockets and give me all they had.
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We know there are many biblical imperatives enjoining us to be charitable. “Blessed is he who has regard for the weak”(Psalms 41:1). “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever”(Psalms 112:9). “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor”(Proverbs 22:9). We are also very specifically called to direct our charitable efforts to the widows and orphans. Without husbands and fathers they are in special need of the material and spiritual support of the body of Christ.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

—James 1:27

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OVEMBER 21

Miracle of the Rock

Isaac Avigdor was one of ten thousand Jews transported in 1944 from Poland to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. There he was put on the infamous “Quarry Detail,” removing by hand large rocks blasted from a mountainside. After each dynamite blast, the prisoners were ordered to carry away a large rock to the disposal area. Being the new man on the detail, Avigdor hesitated after the first explosion while the others rushed in to pick up the rocks of manageable size. He could find only a boulder that he could barely lift. At first he tried to carry it in his hands, then on each shoulder. Soon, his shoulders were bleeding, and he was lagging behind. He knew that laggards were usually shot and that thousands had already died in the same situation. As he stumbled and fell, he knew that this was the end for him.

I didn’t care anymore: let them shoot me, or throw me off the mountain, and I let the rock drop to the ground. And the miracle happened: the rock hit the ground and split in two. Quickly, unnoticed by any one, I picked up one of the pieces and resumed marching. There may have been a natural crack in the rock that caused it to split the moment it received a blow. None the less, a threefold miracle happened to me: the rock split; I had enough presence of mind to realize at once to take advantage of what had happened; no one noticed.
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