Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (17 page)

With his ship destroyed by a German submarine, Hirsch began a twenty-one-day ordeal with twenty-three other seamen in a lifeboat designed for ten. Stranded in the mid-Atlantic outside normal shipping lanes, their chances of rescue seemed slim. As they grew weaker, the seamen seemed to sense that they were nearing the limit of their endurance.

At this stage, they began to pray. They prayed for the wounded and for each other. As they continued these prayers they came closer together and found hope to go on. Hirsch later recalled that they managed to keep their civility, their self-respect, and their courage. Above all, these men nurtured the hope that they would survive. Their faith was rewarded on the twenty-first day when a British freighter came over the horizon to end their ordeal.

God wants us to be hopeful in Him. Finding hope in all circumstances is a recurring biblical theme reflected throughout the Psalms; “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the L
ORD
”(Psalm 31:24). “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you”(Psalm 39:7). “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign L
ORD
, my confidence since my youth”(Psalms 71:5). Our heavenly Father also sent his Son into the world to bring us an even greater and ultimate hope: that through him, we have a place in his everlasting kingdom.

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.

—Romans 5:3–5

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ARCH 15

Navy Shower

When the fresh water supply runs low on a Navy ship, the inevitable and dreaded recourse is “water hours,” limiting the time available for showers. To prevent this and to educate the new crew members, the following article was run in a ship’s newsletter on New Year’s Day 1942:

The way most so-called sailors waste water, it is little wonder the ship may be required to establish washroom hours.

If some of you have no regard for engineering efficiency or ship’s spirit, most of you should still realize that fresh water aboard ship at sea is precious, and that the evaporators can’t make enough water for you to waste any!

So, for the benefit of first, second, third and fourth cruise “boots,” we shall endeavor to explain the proper way for a sailor to take a shower; in four easy lessons. 1. Wet yourself down. 2. Turn-off the water while soaping yourself. 3. Rinse. 4. Turn off the water and scram. P.S. If you want to linger longer than that under a shower, wait until you hit the “Y”. If all hands can learn to take a shower on board as outlined above, washroom hours may be extended, to the better comfort of all of us. Be a shipmate! Be a sailor!!!
¹⁰⁰

Fresh water is always a precious commodity aboard a Navy ship, requiring careful conservation by every man on board. It is also a precious commodity in many arid regions of the world. In the Middle East, a gallon of water used to cost more than a gallon of gasoline.

Water was an especially critical resource during biblical times, and for that reason, was an important source of imagery. The psalmist described longing for God as a deer panting for “streams of water”(Psalm 42:1). Jesus told us that they are blessed who “thirst for righteousness”(Matthew 5:6). The culmination of this imagery is found in Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman. After asking her for a drink of water from a well, Jesus offered her another kind of drink that would forever replenish itself. This image of “living water” presents a powerful picture of eternal life with Jesus and our Father in heaven.

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

—John 4:13–14

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ARCH 16

I Couldn’t Die

On June 9, 1940, the British aircraft carrier HMS
Glorious
was intercepted returning from Norway by two German battle cruisers. The Glorious and her two escort destroyers were sunk, with more than fifteen hundred sailors lost. Ronald Healiss, a Royal Marine, was one of the few survivors. Sighting a lifeboat in the distance, he began the longest swim of his life. After what seemed like hours, every muscle was cramped and his stomach was in a knot. He thought his time had come.

It’s true that when you see death approaching your past life passes before your eyes. I remembered my boyhood, the day I joined the Royal Marines. I could see my mother clearly. And the girl who would have been my wife in a few short days. In my trouser-pocket there had been a little leather case in which I always carried a picture of my parents and my girl. I felt about me with a frozen hand. The case was still there. I took it out while I floated, intent on bidding them goodbye. But I couldn’t. The faces were too real. The sodden photographs smiled up at me and I knew I couldn’t die without seeing those three people again. I thrust the wallet back in my pocket and struck out again with fresh strength.
¹⁰¹

A friend once told me a similar story of survival in a Vietnamese rice paddy. He decided that in spite of his wounds and “hopeless” situation, he was just not going to die in that place. He reached down within himself for the strength to keep going and somehow got to a safe place. These stories are a reminder of how precious life is and how strong we can be once we make the decision to move ahead. God stands ready to reach out to us when we choose to go forward in spite of our difficulties and when we turn to him for help. In him there is truly no hopeless situation.

But you, O L
ORD
, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

—Psalm 22:19

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ARCH 17

One More Round

“Gentleman Jim” Corbett became heavyweight boxing champion by defeating the great John L. Sullivan in 1892. One of his famous remarks was quoted to give the crew of an American battleship inspiration to perform their duties under the difficult conditions of wartime:

Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round—remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.
¹⁰²

It may be difficult for many to identify with boxing as a metaphor for living. These days our struggles are usually not of such an intensely physical nature. However, even our everyday problems relating to work and family often require great patience and at times even a degree of dogged determination. Then there are our spiritual struggles, which are on a different plane altogether. Our efforts in this sphere have eternal consequences and are worthy of our utmost perseverance. Scripture exhorts us to, “Fight the good fight”(1 Timothy 6:12) and “Stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong”(1 Corinthians 16:13). When we are discouraged or tempted to give up, standing up in faith to fight ‘one more round’ may make all the difference.

Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.

—James 5:10–11

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ARCH 18

Staring at a Bomb

The battle off the coast of Norway went on for twenty hours. Seaman Robert Case was firing his anti-aircraft gun at real targets for the first time. He quickly became a veteran. His ship, the SS
Steel Worker
, had several near-misses as enemy aircraft darted over and through the convoy. Suddenly, two Messerschmitts bore in from an altitude of about 2,000 feet, their wings thin black lines in the distance. As Case stared through his sights, those wings grew thicker and flames began to erupt from them. Keeping his eyes to the sights and hand on the trigger he opened fire. The empty shell casings started clattering over the deck under his feet. Then, time seemed to stand still:

The aftermost plane peeled off… The other kept on, right into our fire, smack for us. Then he dropped it, a 550pounder. He was gone, away from our fire, and… all we could do was look up at that bomb. It fell, slanting with the pull of the plane’s speed. It whirled, screaming and howling in the air directly over-head. We could very clearly see the cylindrical khaki shape, the fins, even the white blur that was the serial markings on the side. This was for us, we thought. This was death… the sound of it seemed to possess all sound
¹⁰³

Then, according to Case, the bomb “veered a bit.” It struck the sea twenty feet astern of the
Steel Worker
, lifting the ship in the water and splitting deck plates. Case and his shipmates were water-soaked from the blast, but alive.

No one would ever fault a man for looking death in the face and fighting to survive, as Case and his shipmates did. When Christ looked death in the face, however, he didn’t fight. He allowed himself to be crucified, even though he knew the anguish that horrible death would bring. His resurrection spelled victory both for him and for all of us who accept the gift of salvation he offers to us. (JG)

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

—1 Corinthians 15:55

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ARCH 19

Evacuated to America

When war came to England, families faced difficult decisions. Concerned about the safety of their children during the bombing, many parents in industrial areas chose to send them to rural towns to keep them from harm. Marion Hunt’s father went to even greater lengths. After considerable effort he was able to arrange for his two children and his wife to go to America to live with relatives in Boston for an indefinite period. They left England in 1940 on a hazardous journey. While crossing the Atlantic in a large convoy, they watched two ships go down after being attacked by U-boats. Eventually, they made their way to Boston and a new life.

George Hunt, Marion’s father, had been a merchant marine since the last days of World War I and had spent most of his life at sea. He knew that in this war he had a very uncertain future. Above all else, he wanted his family to be safe. Marion’s last memory of him was haunting. “I will always remember his leaving, watching him walking down the road and out of sight, and we never saw him again.”
¹⁰⁴
He was killed when his ship, the SS
Congolian
, was sunk in 1944. Her story is another poignant illustration of the tragedy and sacrifice endured by so many families touched by this war. Her father gave up everything, his wife, his children, and his life, trying to do his best for his country and his family.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.

—Psalm 51:16–17

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ARCH 20

Nearer to Thee

After years of declining health, Franklin Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, of a massive cerebral hemorrhage, tragically ending his unprecedented fourth term of office as president. He was buried with full military honors at his home in Hyde Park, New York, with his long-time pastor, the Reverend George Anthony, officiating. After gun salutes, aircraft flyovers, and the final bugle call, the burial ceremony started promptly at 10:30 a.m. The words came from the
Episcopal Book of Common Prayer
, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” There were no words of eulogy. The Reverend Anthony quoted an old hymn:
¹⁰⁵

Now the laborer’s task is o’er; now the battle day is past;
Now upon the farther shore lands the voyager at last.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping, leave we now Thy servant sleeping.

Also prominent in the event was another old and familiar hymn, “Nearer My God to Thee,” played at the funeral of President James Garfield and quoted by William McKinley on his deathbed:

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy giv’n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.
There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.
¹⁰⁶

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.