Stories of Faith and Courage from World War II

budge. In the midst of the panic and confusion, one of the sailors, Sylvester Puccio, barked for everyone to step aside. He came forward with his tools and started attacking the hinges on the locker. He soon had the doors removed. Within minutes, the little group was opening valves, and the West Virginia started settling on an even keel.

There were many heroes at Pearl Harbor who were recognized for their service. However, it was not until many years later that the son of another survivor pieced together the details of this unheralded incident. He learned that he owed his life and his children’s lives to this man who had saved his father, thousands of others, and a battleship. He was forever thankful that Sylvester Puccio stepped forward on that day, able to think for himself, and able to calmly solve a problem in the midst of chaos. He called him, “An Angel Sent by History.”⁵²

We may not often have the opportunity to prove our own heroism in a dramatic way, but if we are willing and available, we can be as angels to those around us by recognizing a need and rising to the occasion to meet it.

In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them.

—Isaiah 63:9

February 6 Rumors

Henry Lachenmayer was a twenty-two-year-old crewmember of the USS Pennsylvania at Pearl Harbor. During the attack he did his best to perform his battle duties as a medic. He was eyewitness to the destruction wrought on the Pennsylvania and surrounding ships. After recounting the events of the day in his diary, he summarized the rumors that were swirling in the aftershock of the attack:

Here are some of the rumors passing amongst us, none of us having real solid information. Some of the enemy planes were piloted by German fliers. The enemy tried to land troops at Nanakuh and Waikiki beaches, but were repulsed. We sank two enemy aircraft carriers some distance from the islands. Wake and Midway islands are in Japanese hands. Saboteurs land in great numbers on the island. We had two more alarms… but these proved to be only scares.⁵³

We always hear rumors, especially in times of uncertainty. When the facts are unknown, there always seems to be someone willing to supply them out of his own imagination. Jesus was aware of this all-too human tendency and tried to prepare his disciples to deal with it. When they asked him to explain what would happen at the time of his return, Jesus warned them, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed” (Matthew 24:6). He then told them to ignore the rumors. He told them, in fact, that they could ignore all human sources of news. They would directly and personally know when the Son of Man returned to Earth.

For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man… They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

—Matthew 24:27, 30

February 7 More Rumors

After Pearl Harbor had been attacked, news spread like wildfire throughout the nation. As you would expect, every question could not be answered immediately. Where will the Japanese strike next? Is the rest of the nation safe? Rumors began to circulate to “answer” these questions. People heard that bombs were hitting American cities, that American ships were being sunk at sea, that the Panama Canal was blocked. Word spread that Japanese forces had established beachheads at San Francisco and Long Beach. Widespread anxiety was reported:

It was a rough Sunday night on the West Coast, where a follow-up Japanese attack seemed more likely than anywhere else. Around San Francisco Bay, fire sirens sounded falsely three times to warn residents of possible air attacks. Unpracticed civilian defense volunteers darted around neighborhoods yelling “Lights Out!” Police ordered drivers to turn out their headlamps and proceed using only their parking lights. Japanese planes never did appear that night to inflict any damage, but all that driving in darkness caused a lot of damaging accidents.⁵⁴

There are times when we must react to crisis situations to protect our loved ones and ourselves. However, in times of great uncertainty we know that rumors are inevitable and often cause our plight to seem worse than it is. Christians should feel less cause for panic at such times because we have the assurance that God is in charge. We know that he wants us to do what needs to be done calmly, without unreasonable fear of the uncertainties that lie ahead. This quiet strength can be found only in God and the certain knowledge that he is in control.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

—Matthew 6:27

February 8 Tapping on the Hull

Richard Fiske was a Marine on the USS West Virginia. On December 8, the day after the ship was sunk at her Pearl Harbor berth, he and other crew members heard a desperate, insistent tapping sound from inside the hull. An urgent search began of the accessible compartments, but, despite their best efforts, they were unsuccessful in finding the trapped crewmen. Fiske described with difficulty the events that followed:

That tapping went on all week long. They sent divers down 14 times to find those guys. They did the best they could, but they just couldn’t find them. We didn’t know who was down there, but the tapping continued until December 24^th. When we went into dry-dock on June 18, 1942, we found them. They were in the last watertight compartment we opened. We found a calendar and a clock with them. I often wonder what they were thinking about. Their lives were cut so short and they never had a chance to realize their dreams.⁵⁵

This incident deeply affected Fiske for the rest of his life. He could never forget what happened and could only state that, “I pray every day because the good Lord was with us.”⁵⁶ Today, we also hope and pray with this survivor that the Lord was with all the crew on the West Virginia that day, including those men trapped below. We pray that they were sustained by the strength that can come only from God to calmly face such a hopeless situation. We need to remind ourselves today that God is the source of our own strength. He promises to be beside us, no matter the time, place, or crisis.