do not survive. Fortunately, humanity does not disappear entirely, as the conscience of this young soldier proves. He did his job, but he didn’t feel good about it. Hopefully we will always find young men of such character to defend our nation.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
October 13
The first wave to hit Omaha Beach was devastated. As the ramp dropped on his landing craft, Chuck Hurlbut stepped into the water and quickly saw the ranks of his unit shredded by enemy gunfire. He struggled through the surf to the sound of explosions, small arms fire, and the cries of wounded soldiers. Somehow he made it across the beach to the dune line, where he found more devastation and chaos. He didn’t know where he was or where the others in his unit were. There were no leaders, only other scared and disoriented soldiers like himself. Looking seaward he saw landing craft burning and bodies all over the beach. The rumor swept through the dispirited men that the invasion on Omaha Beach had failed and that those there were stranded. He wondered where they would go. Into the water? At this dark moment he witnessed an amazing phenomenon:
All of a sudden, a guy here, a guy there, a sergeant here, “Come on guys, let’s go get them.” They started up. They got these snipers along the way. They blew out a pillbox. About 1 o’clock, 1:30, up on a hill, way up on the horizon, I saw some Yank ees, waving, “Come on up! Come on up!” And whoever those guys were, they were the heroes. They lacked the leadership but they had that initiative, the soldier quality, that said, “We’re not gonna die here. Let’s go get these guys!”427
The hallmark of American fighting men in World War II and in the present day is summed up in one word: initiative. When officers are not physically present, small-unit leaders and individual soldiers step up to do what needs to be done. This is partly due to training, and partly due to something in the American character. The individualism and personal responsibility that we see in our soldiers are by-products of the freedom that they enjoy as Americans. This freedom was God’s gift at the founding of this nation and the reason he has blessed America throughout much of her history.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
October 14
James Jordan was in the first wave on Omaha Beach. His landing craft took a direct hit from an artillery shell that killed many of his fellow soldiers instantly. He went into the water and found himself sinking under the weight of a seventy-five-pound pack and weapon. Fortunately, he was able to ditch all his gear, make his way back to the surface, and swim to shore. He recalled, “As badly as things had begun for me, once I made the beach, it got worse.”428 Picking up an abandoned M-1 rifle, Jordan moved forward under heavy machine-gun fire to a seawall where he found what was left of his platoon. He described what he did next:
I then discovered the rifle I had picked up from the beach wouldn’t fire, probably due to being clogged with sand. I picked up a second rifle that was on the beach close to the sea wall. This one wouldn’t fire either. After the third rifle I found wouldn’t fire, I realized I would have to clean it in order to have a functioning weapon. So, while still behind the sea wall, I stripped down the M-1 and cleaned the trigger housing with a toothbrush that I still had from one of my pockets. That one worked.429
This story reminded me of my first training as a Marine officer candidate at Quantico, Virginia. Fieldstripping and cleaning our rifles was a daily ritual. To emphasize the importance of a clean weapon, our young sergeant- instructor told us how he had lost his rifle cleaning kit while fighting in Korea and had used his toothbrush for weeks to clean his M-1. At the time, the concept of putting a clean rifle ahead of oral hygiene was not easy for a group of college boys to swallow. Just like Private 1st Class Jordan in this story, we all learned differently later. Without a functioning weapon, a Marine or soldier in combat is pretty useless and helpless.
In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the apostle Paul described the spiritual armor available to Christians, including our primary and only offensive weapon: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”(Ephesians 6:17). Burnishing this sword through frequent study and application should be our own daily ritual.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
October 15
Harley Reynolds was supposed to land after the first assault wave on Omaha Beach. However, the first wave was late and his was early. He quickly lost men in his machine-gun section as he tried to get a foothold on the fire- swept beach. Trying to explain it, he said, “Confusion doesn’t describe it.” For a while his constant thought was, “What’s keeping me up? I must be hit. Too many bullets were flying not to be hit.”430
The first cover he spotted was a raised roadbed running along the beach where he found respite from the heavy fire. He gathered his men there as best he could, trying to figure out what to do next. Barbed wire on the road and a wire fence beyond blocked the advance. The incoming tide would soon make his safe spot untenable.
Help soon arrived in the form of a small soldier with a long bangalore torpedo. Exposing himself to enemy fire, the soldier moved up to slide the torpedo under the wire and then inserted a fuse lighter. When the charge detonated Reynolds didn’t hesitate:
My head was three or four feet from the torpedo and I was closest to the path it blew in the wire. My men were behind me better than we had even done in practice. I went through the trip wire high stepping just as we did on obstacle courses. I was running so fast I hadn’t made up my mind what to do about the wire fence until I faced it. I literally dove through in a sideways dive… Troops on the beach seemed to be holding back but not for long.431
Staff Sergeant Reynolds was later credited with being the first man through the barbed wire on this beach. He played a critical role in opening the way for others to fight their way forward to the high ground needed to secure the beachhead. For his heroic actions he was awarded the Bronze Star, French Croix de Guerre, and Purple
