were fighting for on Iwo Jima. By war’s end more than two thousand U.S. aircraft would land on the little island, and thousands of other airmen would be saved. From time to time we all need some tangible reminders of what we’re striving for. Our mission as Christians is to save souls, and there is nothing more motivating than to hear about a success. Share your own witness with your brothers and sisters in Christ. You never know when your words will be the very encouragement that someone else needs to carry on in their work for the Lord’s kingdom.
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
December 7
As soon as Iwo Jima Airfield No. 1 was cleared of enemy mines and the runways were repaired, transport aircraft from Guam began arriving to evacuate the seriously wounded. At that time a group of twelve nurses had just arrived on Guam to work in the field hospital there. Norma Crotty was one of the first to learn that she would accompany a flight to Iwo Jima and care for wounded Marines on the return trip. After an anxious five-hour flight, she suddenly found herself in the middle of a combat zone for the first time. She could hardly believe the lack of color in a desolate landscape filled with dirt, smoke, and noise. To her it was like “living in a newsreel.”513
She soon found the aid station, where thirty of the most seriously wounded were selected for evacuation. They were taken to the waiting aircraft and put on bunks stacked four high. Since there were no doctors on the return flight, Norma and one corpsman were on their own taking care of their patients. Her memories of these men were vivid and lasting:
The fellows were so much younger than us, seventeen or eighteen years old, and some of them looked younger than that. Like little boys. And they wanted their mothers, and we sort of became their mothers and comforted them. They were all very courteous and appreciative of anything we did. As much as we did for them medically, I think it was the comforting that was most important to them, and to us. Mostly, they wanted to talk to us, and they enjoyed watching us comb our hair and put on lipstick. They’d ask us to do that. The feeling of closeness to these boys I didn’t have again until I had children.514
There are few things as pure as a nurse’s love for her patients or a mother’s love for her children, both of which are illustrated in this story. It is an incredible realization that both are but a pale reflection of God’s love for us. In spite of the fact that we turn away from him and continually disappoint him, he continues to treat us as his own children. In the greatest demonstration of love ever known, he sent his Son to live in the world, to teach us, to suffer for us, and to redeem us to himself.
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
December 8
An important event in Japanese history occurred in the year 1281 when the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan invaded the island nation with an overwhelming army and naval armada. Vastly outnumbered, the Japanese fought back, but were saved only by an unseasonable typhoon that scattered the invasion fleet. This incident was considered an intervention by divine providence and remembered as the Kamikaze or Divine Wind.
In 1944, facing the inexorable Allied advance toward the home islands, the Japanese military turned to a desperate measure. A modern “divine wind” of suicide bombers was unleashed on the American fleet. The first wave of Kamikazes hurtled down at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, where the escort carrier
In May 1945 a twenty-three-year-old Japanese pilot wrote his last letter home before his one and only mission:
Dear Parents: Please congratulate me. I have been given a splendid opportunity to die. This is my last day. The destiny of our homeland hinges on the decisive battle in the seas to the south where I shall fall like a blossom from a radiant cherry tree. I shall be a shield for His Majesty and die cleanly along with my squadron leader and other friends.516
The individual courage of this Japanese airman cannot be denied. It is the policy of intentional suicide that is so abhorrent to our value system. Our concern for human life stems from our loyalty to a God who created us in his image and places eternal value on every human soul. Even in wartime Americans have and will hopefully always continue to conserve lives, whether they be our own troops, civilians, or even enemy combatants. No human life is expendable.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
December 9
Robert Scott was one of World War II’s most famous aviators. He was credited with thirteen aerial victories while flying his P-40 Warhawk over China. He flew as a volunteer with General Claire Chennault’s Flying Tigers and then as commander of the 23rd Fighter Group of the China Air Task Force. He returned to the United States in 1943 to a hero’s welcome and nationwide speaking tour. While still on active duty he wrote his wartime memoir, God Is My Co-Pilot, and served as technical advisor to Warner Brothers for the movie production of his book. Colonel Scott wrote a heartfelt prayer to share his faith with other military men and women:
O God, My Father, The Great Referee of earth and sea and sky, be with me in combat and adversity. Strengthen my love for the land that has given me birth and make me worthy of the sacrifices of my fathers in hewing America from the wilderness they found. Endow me with the courage to face danger in spite of fear. Make me resolve that the blood of my fathers was not shed in vain and that regardless of cost our way of life shall
