Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (59 page)

—Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, July 5, 1944
⁴⁵⁵

This message, if broadcast, would have announced one of the greatest disasters in history: the failure of the Allied invasion of Normandy. It is difficult to imagine the ramifications of such a scenario. Would Germany have had time to fully develop its jet aircraft, missile, and nuclear technologies and to ultimately prevail in “Fortress Europe?” Would the Soviets have conquered more or even all of Europe? Would the United States have eventually used nuclear weapons against Germany?

None of these questions can be answered and, fortunately, don’t have to be. General Eisenhower’s message was a handwritten note found in his belongings by an aide weeks after the invasion. He never had to deliver it to the public.

Although never used, Eisenhower’s “in case of failure” message provides two great insights into the events of D-Day. First, we see into the character of the Supreme Commander himself, with more evidence that he was a decent man. He would never have considered pointing a finger at subordinate commanders or the weather. Second, we have another reminder of just how uncertain success was on D-Day. In retrospect, many events of history may seem inevitable. Only when we go back and look at the details do we see how precarious those events were. The “in case of failure” message fully documents that success on this momentous day was not inevitable.

We should obviously be thankful for the skill of the commanders and the bravery of the troops who achieved this great victory. We should also be thankful for a God whose merciful providence made it possible.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

—1 Corinthians 2:9

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CTOBER 31

D-Day Remembered

On June 6, 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the D-Day invasion. He spoke to a group of veterans assembled at Pointe du Hoc, overlooking the beaches of Normandy. In his moving talk, he asked rhetorically why men like these would put aside their instinct for self-preservation and risk their lives to overcome such overwhelming obstacles. What inspired them?

We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge and pray God we have not lost it that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man…

Something else helped the men of D-Day: their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion… General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listen(ed) in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.”

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.
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We pray that what inspired our heroes of D-Day will continue to inspire and unify our nation during the troubled times that will inevitably come in the future. We hope and pray that America will continue to put God’s will and his guidance ahead of all other worldly concerns.

The L
ORD
himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

—Deuteronomy 31:8

President Reagan speaks at the 40th Anniversary of D-Day.(National Archives)

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OVEMBER

Victory in Europe

By the end of June 1944, one million Allied troops had crossed the Normandy beaches onto French soil. After weeks of hard fighting, the port of Cherbourg was taken, followed by a massive air and land assault centered on the town of St. Lo, enabling the first decisive Allied breakout from the beachhead in late July. Progress eastward was rapid from this point, as other American and French units landed on the Mediterranean coast and began advancing from the south. By early September Paris was liberated, and a continuous Allied line was soon established from the Swiss border to the English Channel.

With Soviet armies closing from the east and almost continuous bombing of industrial sites from the air, the Nazi high command concluded that the defense of France was futile. German forces were pulled back and consolidated behind the natural barrier of the Rhine River network. Although the first German city, Aachen, was captured in October, the Allied advance slowed almost to a standstill due to bad weather and mounting supply problems.

As freezing temperatures and cloudy weather started to settle over central Europe in late 1944, Hitler conceived a bold offensive campaign to relieve the pressure on his reeling army. On December 16 his generals launched an eleven-division assault through the Ardennes Forest aimed at Brussels and Antwerp. In a stroke, Hitler sought to split the Allied armies and to deny the Allies the vital port facilities at Antwerp. This desperate move had little chance of ultimate success, but still caught the Allies by surprise and seriously disrupted their planned offensive operations. The ensuing Battle of the Bulge was fought bitterly over a two-week period. The focal point was at Bastogne, where the 101
^st
Airborne Division held out even though cut off and surrounded. When the weather cleared just before Christmas Day and Patton’s 3
^rd
Army advance units arrived, the issue was decided. By early January all German forces were eliminated from the “bulge,” with the loss of two panzer armies and eight hundred tanks. There would be no further offensive efforts by the German army.

After the Battle of the Bulge it was only a matter of weeks before the Allied armies continued to push to the east. In March 1945 the Rhine River barrier was forced at several points, as the German defenses began to collapse all along the front. The British and Canadian armies on the left flank raced for the German North Sea ports. The American 1
^st
and 9
^th
armies advanced on the Ruhr Valley, cutting off Germany’s main industrial region from the rest of the country. Patton’s Third Army, meanwhile, attacked east along the Danube toward Czechoslovakia.

As the war was nearing an end, General Eisenhower made a controversial strategic decision with long-range consequences for the postwar era. He did not attempt to capture Berlin. Stopping short and directing his forces southward at other objectives, he allowed the Soviets uncontested control of the German capital. As Red Army forces encircled Berlin, Hitler finally committed suicide on April 29. By strange coincidence, Franklin Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini also died within days of the German leader’s death. Shortly thereafter, a German provisional government accepted surrender terms and a cease-fire. At Eisenhower’s headquarters, Marshal Alfred Yodl signed the formal document:

We, the undersigned… hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, and simultaneously to the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, all forces on land, sea, and in the air who are at this date under German control.
⁴⁵⁷

At 11:01 p.m. on May 8, 1945, World War II in Europe came to an end.

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OVEMBER 1

Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Christian during World War II. He was a Lutheran theologian, pastor, and leader of the Confessing Church, which opposed the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazis. Arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943 and imprisoned in a series of camps, he was finally hanged at Flossenburg on April 9, 1945, a few weeks before that city was liberated. While in prison, he wrote parts of his great work,
Ethics
, including a treatise on the role of the church in the modern world:

The way of Jesus Christ, and therefore the way of all Christian thinking, leads not from the world to God but from God to the world. This means that the essence of the gospel does not lie in the solution of human problems, and that the solution of human problems cannot be the essential task of the Church.

The Church’s word to the world is the word of the incarnation of God, of the love of God for the world in the sending of His Son, and of God’s judgment upon unbelief. The word of the Church is the call to conversion, the call to belief in the love of God in Christ, and the call to preparation for Christ’s second coming and for the future kingdom of God.
⁴⁵⁸

Bonhoeffer articulated a unique and timeless perspective on the relationship between the Church and God. The church is God’s vehicle for redeeming the world, not the world’s vehicle for bringing its problems to God. This perspective is as vital today as ever.

This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations.

—Luke 24:46–47

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OVEMBER 2

Bonhoeffer on Freedom

In 1944 Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote an essay titled, “Stations on the Way to Freedom.” Its message is especially poignant considering his state of imprisonment at the time he wrote it. In this masterful work he addressed the subjects of self-discipline, action, suffering, and death. Each of these will be highlighted over the next several days.

If you set out to seek freedom, you must learn before all things
Mastery over sense and soul, lest your wayward desirings,
Lest your undisciplined members lead you now this way, now that way.
Chaste be your mind and your body, and subject to you and obedient,
Serving solely to seek their appointed goal and objective.
None learns the secret of freedom save only by way of control.
⁴⁵⁹

Bonhoeffer presents here an apparent paradox. To be free, we must be in control. This seems contradictory, until we realize the extent to which we can be governed by our passions. When our whims and desires rule our behavior, we are truly imprisoned. When we have no firm foundation we are out of control and at the mercy of the world’s expectations and our own uncertain judgment. Only when Jesus Christ controls our lives are we truly free to live as we are intended: with joyful hope in him and a sure purpose in service to his kingdom.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

—John 8:34–36

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OVEMBER 3

Action and Freedom