shortest “Dear John” letter ever received in the European Theater. His letter was duly published, to the amusement of countless readers: “Mr. Kramer: Go to hell! With love, Anne Gudis.”340
This “loving” couple met in 1942, before Sam was posted to England. There followed a stormy three-year correspondence, reaching a climax of sorts with this letter. They continued writing, however, often with similar acrimony. Over time, amazingly, the situation improved. In June 1944 Anne would write, “All I can do is tell you how very much you mean to me and how I long for the day when we can be together again.”341 After the war, they did come together and were married in 1945. A long, successful marriage with three children followed.
This is a story of perseverance that should inspire any married couple. Relationships do become stormy at times, and one or both partners say things that wound the other. The lesson here is clear: keep talking. In this case, the couple kept on writing, which eventually accomplished the same purpose. They worked through their self- inflicted wounds to recapture those things about each other that attracted them in the first place. My mother’s advice was to never go to sleep on an argument. This can sometimes be difficult to do literally, but the basic advice is the same: keep on talking until you resolve the problem. And every time you take the first step to reconcile, remember that Jesus himself is on your side, for in every situation, “Blessed are the peacemakers”(Matthew 5:9).
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
August 26
In 1943 a group of women in Brooktondale, New York, began printing a newsletter called the
At the morning service of the Nazarene Church in Brooktondale, Dec. 30th, a candle lighting service was held in honor of those in Service of our Country from our community. Dr. Howard Miller delivered the message in conjunction with the service. His subject was, “The relationship of Home, Church, and Country.”
A row of nineteen candles was placed in front of the Altar and as the Pastor, Rev. Stanford Ernest read the name of the man or woman in service, the mother, wife, or sister, lighted a candle in his or her honor. Rev. Ernest offered a prayer for their safe return and Miss Betty Miller very impressively sang “Keep the Home Fires Burning.”
Two beautiful flags, the American and the Christian, were presented to the Church by Dr. Howard Miller and Mrs. Miller.342
The 2007 population of Brooktondale was 2028. It may have been smaller or larger in 1944, but probably not by much. Nineteen young people serving in the armed forces represented a large portion of this small town. This prayerful and thoughtful community support had to be encouraging and uplifting for those doing their duty away from home. We pray that so many will never again be involved in a war, but that, whatever the number, those who go into harm’s way for us will always be so honored. As the popular World War I song says, “Keep the home fires burning, while your hearts are yearning…”343
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
August 27
Mail service and information from the Southwest Pacific theater was slow and sporadic. A Chicago woman, Mrs. Nels Neslund, could not get news about her wounded son, Robert, and finally went to the top for help. On January 1, 1945, she wrote a letter that was part entreaty and part prayer directly to General MacArthur:
This is the first prayer of nineteen forty five, that our boys come home safe and sound. It is written on the first minute of the new year and if God ever listened to a prayer I hope it is this one…
Please take care of my boys, let Robert get well, let him stay in the hospital till he is… and please God hold your healing hand over the mind and spirit and physical well being of all the soldiers in the Philippines and all over the world, for if each one of them has a mother or a wife whose prayer joins with mine this first hour of 1945 I am sure the strength of it, the strength of all the combined prayers of this day will be able to move mountains… 344
Unfortunately, General MacArthur’s response to this appeal is not known. He must have been moved by the eloquence of this distraught woman appealing to him and to God at the same time. She may have had little faith in the Army, but the depth of her faith in God shows through in her inspiring appeal to God and other mothers. This is the kind of faith that brings individuals and families through difficult times and enables them to deal with whatever worldly crisis besets them. God freely offers the same spiritual protection and support to his people whenever we turn to him for it.
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
August 28
Hours after stepping off his landing craft into knee-deep water, Smith Shumway looked down at Omaha Beach from the high ground. Below him lay an amazing scene. Ships and landing craft stretched as far as he could see. Many were still circling offshore and others were coming into the beach. Airplanes were roaring overhead, and shells were bursting everywhere. The beach was littered with men and machines. It was a sight he would never forget and, unfortunately, one of the last sights he would ever see.
Soon after, Shumway’s life was changed forever by an exploding anti-tank mine. Advancing through the hedgerows of Normandy, he was only a yard behind a tank when it blew up. The horrendous explosion riddled him with shrapnel and thrust him into darkness. Over the following days he had to accept the fact that he was permanently blind.
The young officer spent the next two years in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, recovering from his wounds and adapting to his blindness. His progress was amazing. In 1946 he was hired by the state of Maryland as a rehabilitation counselor for the blind. He soon began visiting factories to show managers and blind workers that they could do many tasks previously thought impossible for a blind person. He became one of the most successful counselors in the nation at placing the sightless in industrial jobs. He also gradually worked up the confidence and
