July 16
LaVerne Saunders was an airman and hero of World War II, earning the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, and Purple Heart. He commanded a bomber group during the Solomon Islands campaign in the Pacific. In one of his famous exploits he was a passenger in a B-17 when the pilot and copilot were seriously wounded by a Japanese fighter attack. Saunders coolly took the controls, ditched the aircraft near an island, and got the crew to safety.
On Christmas Day 1942 he became one of the Army’s youngest brigadier generals and took over 7th Bomber Command. Later, he was a key figure bringing the new B-29 bomber into operational service. With 20th Bomber Command he took a B-29 wing to India and China in 1944 and led the first long-range strikes against mainland Japan. In that year he also wrote a moving prayer as an inspiration for military men and women serving around the world:
O God, most merciful and just, look upon this suppliant soldier and help me to do my duty in all things for love of Thee. Make me strong in conflict, brave in adversity, and patient in suffering. Make me vigilant to defend my country against her enemies and proud to carry her cause fearlessly into battle. I do not ask to be preserved free from all bodily harm, and if death is the price I must pay for my country’s freedom, I will pay it gladly, trusting in Thy infinite mercy that Thou wilt make a place for me in heaven, there to know peace and happiness for all eternity. Bless and protect my loved ones at home, and grant that my sacrifices on the field of battle may make me worthy of their trust and confidence, through Christ our Lord. Amen.281
It is uplifting to see another great military leader of World War II humbly share his faith and help others turn to God for strength to endure whatever hardships lay before them.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 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.
July 17
The airmen of World War II had to face the terrible risks of fighter attack and anti-aircraft fire. Less obvious were the risks associated with accidents. Some of the most dangerous conditions were brought on by the simple phenomenon of darkness. A twenty-year-old B-17 pilot from Tennessee described the difficulty of organizing aircraft in the dark:
Daylight joinups were easy. A predawn joinup, a low overcast that you had to climb until you were on top, sometime 18,000 to 20,000 feet and then try to join up was terrible. Scary! Imagine a thousand airplanes trying to line up in groups of thirty-six, spaced two minutes apart in pitch-black darkness and over an exact spot in the English Channel at a precise time, make the orderly, perfect formation envisioned by the men behind armor-plated desks, you get a feeling for the high risk of collision… When it did happen, two 65,000pound, four-engine aircraft loaded with bombs and 2,780 gallons of high octane made a very untidy mess.282
During my military service I was always amazed at how difficult it was to do anything in the dark. A simple task like navigating a small unit from point A to point B was challenging. Coordinating units maneuvering in the field could be fraught with confusion.
There is a parallel here to our spiritual lives. When we try to live without God at the center of our lives, we experience a special kind of darkness. Simple things become complicated. Forgiving others for their mistakes should be easy and effortless. However, without God, we get wrapped up in our own hurt feelings. Without God’s light guiding our way, we stay confused within ourselves. Our own desires and motives lead us along truly dark and confusing paths. Only with God’s light can we see the straight path that we need to be walking with him.
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
July 18
The B-24’s flew “straight into a scene that resembled the background of a medieval painting of hell.”283
Raging fires, black smoke, flak bursts, and tracers filled the air over the oil refineries of Ploesti, Romania. One hundred seventy-seven American bombers flew thirteen hundred miles from North Africa to attack the strategic target providing thirty percent of Germany’s oil. Flying at tree top level in daylight, under radio silence, the daring raid was difficult to coordinate and highly dangerous. Instead of arriving simultaneously over the six refineries, the B-24s came in a few at a time to face alerted anti-aircraft batteries and fighter opposition. On that day in August 1943 forty-four aircraft went down with the loss of almost five hundred men. Five earned the Medal of Honor.
Twenty-one-year-old Capt. Richard Butler of San Diego, California, was a volunteer for the Ploesti mission. He and many others faced the unknown and their own fear with the most effective source of comfort known:
I was the co-pilot of our B-24 and Walt Bunker was the pilot. Walt was anything but a religious man, so I was surprised, as we were going out across the Mediterranean, to see Walt pull out one of the small Bibles we were issued and start reading it. I always carried mine with me and I got it out and read some Psalms. I had read from the Good book on other missions, but I had never seen Walt reading from a Bible. That kind of gives you an idea about how serious we were taking this mission.284
There are many psalms that reassure us during difficult times. Psalm 23 is the best known and most memorized. I have found the transcendent imagery of Psalm 91 a special source of encouragement when I am fearful: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”(Psalm 91:1). Scripture such as this enables us to turn our attention away from our earthly concerns and toward our Father in heaven. Even though the dangers that we face may not go away, we know from his Word that God, through his Son, has assured us of his eternal protection.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
