discrimination. No prejudices. No hatred. There is the highest and purest democracy.520
This sermon was reprinted in the thousands and made its way back to the States in untold numbers of letters home. It was also picked up by newspapers, magazines, and radio broadcasts. It was one of many seeds planted during the war that would grow slowly and painfully toward a color-blind America.
Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?
December 13
The human cost of the war was at times overwhelming. A chaplain walked through a new graveyard in the Philippines lined with thirty-five hundred freshly painted white crosses. He looked at the ages of the fallen soldiers buried there and noticed that practically every one was eighteen or nineteen years old:
For this, some poor woman labored for nine months, brought the child into the world, took care of every need, watched him grow up, proud, and this is the way it ends? There’s got to be a better way.521
Another chaplain received many answers to his letters of condolence. Most were gracious and thankful for his help. A few were bitter, as this one from the parents of an only son killed on Iwo Jima:
This letter may not have been typical, but it was honest. Other parents and loved ones may have accepted their losses more graciously, but their pain was just as deep. It is a natural and a good thing to glorify our sons and daughters who have fallen in wartime fighting for our nation. We rightfully consider them heroes. It is a good thing also to understand and remember the cost of this sacrifice. Mothers, fathers, spouses, siblings, communities all suffer losses that are at times almost impossible to bear. These tragedies shatter lives and affect untold future generations. While condemning war and the human failures that cause it, we pray to see that day envisioned by the prophet Isaiah:
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
December 14
A Jewish chaplain gave this thoughtful description of his ministry to soldiers during World War II:
I find most of my work with men of Protestant and Catholic faiths. Moving about clearing stations, mobile hospitals, rest centers and reserve units… one cannot merely seek his own fellow worshippers. Every boy is equally important—and a smile looks as good on anyone. We forget that we are this faith or another and emphasize the common denominator of fellowship. When they bring them in on a litter covered with mud, blood-soaked, with fear and shock in their faces, you can’t tell what they are until you look at their dog tags. To serve such men is my privilege.523
Military chaplains have always functioned on many levels. As representatives of their faith they have a role in sharing their beliefs with those in spiritual need. As representatives of different denominations they provide the familiar forms of worship that are meaningful to those denominations. On a more basic level, however, they try to represent God to others by bringing a simple, godly concern to every man and woman. This caring touch in the midst of often-desolate surroundings has been of incalculable comfort to many thousands, regardless of their religious affiliation or nonaffiliation. The common denominator is the fact that all are truly God’s children. Many of these chaplains have shared the dangers and discomforts of combat duty around the world and have earned the gratitude of generations of soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”
December 15
Eddie Rickenbacker was one the greatest heroes of World War I and II. As leader of the famous 94th Aero, “Hat in the Ring,” Squadron he posted twenty-six victories over enemy aircraft in the First World War, earning the distinction of “Ace of Aces.” For his heroism in aerial combat he was awarded nine Distinguished Service Crosses and the Medal of Honor. After the war he went into the business world as owner and manager of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and chief executive officer of Eastern Airlines.
In 1941 Rickenbacker was involved in a near-fatal airplane crash near Atlanta and was hospitalized for months. While still recovering from multiple injuries sustained in the crash, be agreed to become the personal envoy of the secretary of war, Henry Stimson. He traveled around the world to give encouragement to armed forces personnel and to gauge the effectiveness of U.S. tactics and equipment.
While flying from Hawaii to the island of Canton in 1942, his B-17 ditched in the middle of the Pacific. With seven other survivors, he spent twenty-four days lost at sea. He credited prayer and the miraculous arrival of a seagull for his survival. He was a devout Christian and wrote the following heartfelt prayer. When he spoke of the “valley of the shadow of death,” he had more first-hand knowledge than probably any other living man.
O Lord, I thank thee for the strength and blessings thou hast given me, and even though I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I feared no evil, for thy rod and thy staff comforted me even unto the four corners of the world. I have sinned, O Lord, but through thy mercy thou hast shown me the light of thy saving grace.
In thy care we are entrusting our boys and girls in the Services scattered throughout the entire world, and we know that in thee they are finding their haven of hope. Be with our leaders, O Lord; give them wisdom to lead us
