Stories of Faith and Courage from World War II

by Larkin Spivey

  From this point the Italian campaign became a slugfest as the American and British forces tried to surmount a series of bitterly contested German defensive positions. By year-end, fighting was stalled on the Gustav Line, seventy miles south of Rome. Anchored on the mountaintop abbey of Monte Casino, this German position proved to be almost impregnable. In an effort to break the stalemate, the Allies launched a major amphibious attack on January 22, 1944, at Anzio, thirty miles from Rome. This effort also stalled against determined and effective German resistance. It was not until May that the Monte Casino position fell to Allied assaults, precipitating a German retreat to new positions in the northern part of Italy. On June 4, 1944, Mark Clark’s 5th Army entered Rome unopposed, two days before the focus of the war would shift to the beaches of Normandy.

  June 1

  The Mosta Dome

  The rotunda of the Church of St. Marija Assunta on the island of Malta has a fascinating history. The Mosta Dome, as it is called, is one of the largest freestanding rotundas in the world, spanning a diameter of 122 feet. It was the architectural masterpiece of Grognet de Vasse, completed in 1860. Built over a church on the same site, the older structure was used as scaffolding for the new. The high spherical vault was painted blue, with various heavenly scenes depicted to represent paradise.

  In 1942 two German Luftwaffe pilots attacked the nearby Ta’ Qali airfield. One dropped a bomb that scored a direct hit on the Mosta Dome. That pilot was downed by anti-aircraft fire and died in the crash. The second pilot, Felix Sauer, witnessed the bombing of the Dome before he too was shot down. Sauer was a Catholic and lived thirty-three years with remorse, thinking he had helped destroy the unique and historic Malta church. When he returned as a tourist in 1975 he found what he first thought was a completely restored structure. Only then did he learn of the “Miracle.”

  On April 9, 1942, church services were being held in the Church of St. Marija Assunta with three hundred people gathered under the great dome. An aircraft was heard overhead, and suddenly there was a crash in the ceiling as a falling bomb penetrated the dome. The bomb struck the floor of the church and skidded across it until finally coming to rest. It missed the entire congregation and failed to explode. This incident became famous in church lore as a great modern demonstration of God’s providential hand protecting his people and his church. Today a replica of the bomb can be seen there commemorating the Miracle of the Mosta Dome.215

  When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord… His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.

  —1 Samuel 5:34

  June 2

  Do What You Can

  Capt. Edwin Sayre was a company commander with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. As night fell on July 9, 1943, his unit boarded C-47 transports in Tunisia for the airborne assault of Sicily. His flight of aircraft drifted off course and had to make a second run for the drop zone, delaying their arrival. Instead of a moonlit jump the paratroopers faced total darkness. High winds then wrought havoc, scattering them over a wide area. Unable to see the hand in front of his face, Sayre was able to collect only a handful of his men by dawn.

  Shortly after daylight, Sayre and his men were taken under fire by an enemy machine gun. Moving forward, they found not one machine gun but a series of pillboxes. This was not the primary objective, but General Gavin had told the paratroopers, “ If you land somewhere and don’t know where you are, just find the nearest enemy and attack.”216

  Well, here was Sayre’s nearest enemy. He was able to contact some of his unit by radio, and, by firing a series of shots, gave them a signal to find him. He gradually assembled enough men and weapons to organize an assault of the enemy emplacements. In close fighting with small arms and grenades they eliminated the pillboxes and captured about fifty prisoners.

  General Gavin’s instruction to his paratroopers is often the kind of direction that is appropriate for us as Christians. As we try to do the right thing in our service to God’s kingdom, we sometimes face uncertainty or lack a clear direction. At such times, we simply have to do what we can do. Even if a bigger mission is unclear, we can lovingly tend to the everyday tasks that present themselves in our families and churches. A child or a friend with a problem is an opportunity for each of us to do God’s work on a personal level, possibly the most important level of all.

  His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”

  —Matthew 25:23

  June 3

  Every Private Was a General

  Sgt. Timothy Dyas was knocked unconscious when he hit the ground near Gela, Sicily. Jumping from three hundred feet, there was barely time for his parachute to open before he made a hard landing. When he regained consciousness, he started gathering scattered soldiers together. He knew his mission was to keep enemy reinforcements from moving down to the invasion beaches. With only a dozen men, he engaged and stopped a German panzer column. When his bazooka team killed the German commander, confusion spread in the enemy ranks. Dyas made this pointed observation:

  Without their leader they didn’t know what to do. In the American Army every private is a general meaning they could adapt. This wasn’t the case with the German army. When their chain of command was broken they were helpless and didn’t know what to do. It took them a good two or three hours to get a junior officer to organize them.217

  Timothy Dyas was somewhat overstating his case. Any unit is adversely affected by the loss of a commander, and German units were able to regroup under such circumstances. However, I believe his main point is valid. The hallmark of American soldiers has always been individual initiative. They think for themselves and do what has to be done.

  This trait causes nightmares for their officers in peacetime. Young enlisted men are very imaginative in their pranks and subversion of regulations. However, in combat this individualism comes to the forefront. This trait comes straight from our Founding Fathers, who knew that human dignity and rights flow from God to individual citizens, not to governments or organizations. The individual has always stood at the top of the hierarchy in America, as it is the individual’s relationship to God that is sacrosanct. As the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image.”

  —Genesis 1:26

  June 4

  Memorial

  In July 1943, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment jumped at night into the hills north of Gela, Sicily, to disrupt enemy communications and to slow reinforcements to the invasion beaches. Even though high winds and navigation errors caused mass confusion among the airborne units, the officers and NCOs (noncommissioned officers) gathered stragglers together to get the job done. In one hard-fought action (described on another day of this month) a series of enemy pillboxes were eliminated along a strategic resupply route leading into Gela.

  Sixty-one years later a group of U.S. Navy and Italian officials joined together in a ceremony to honor the American paratroopers who fell in this action. A memorial was built on the site where three German pillboxes are still visible. The names of thirty-nine Americans who lost their lives in the battle are inscribed on the memorial.

  The acting mayor of the nearby Sicilian village of Niscemi said, “ These young American Soldiers defended the ideals of freedom and democracy upon which western civilization was founded.”

  “We give thanks to the American soldiers who fought and died for our liberation, an event that changed the history of our country,” said the mayor of Gela. “Yet we see them not as foreigners, but as our heroes for what they did.”

  During the ceremony a minister talked about the courage of the fallen paratroopers and the courage of those American and Ita
lian soldiers serving in the present. “ We ask you to continue instilling that same courage in (these soldiers) who at this moment are putting their lives on the line on foreign soil so that people may be free.”218

  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

  —Philippians 1:20

  Infantry advancing with tanks. (National Archives)

  Soldiers making friends during campaign on Sicily. (National Archives)

  June 5

  To Stay and Fight

  Cpl. Ray Sadoski was a rifleman with the 1st Ranger Battalion during the fight for Sicily. At one point he was guarding a group of Italian prisoners near Messina. One of the prisoners who spoke English said to him, “ Hey, how about this we’re going to the States, and you’re going to stay here and fight.”219

  None of us would want to be a prisoner of war, but the irony of this little quip makes us stop and think. Who gets the better deal the “captive” sent to safety, or the “free man” who has to go on facing hardship and danger? If we could choose, it might be a difficult choice.

  There is a parallel here to our view of dying. None of us wants to die. We are programmed instinctively to survive, no matter the circumstance. The thought of our own death is bad enough, but the loss of a loved one is the greatest tragedy that we can imagine. But, here again, we can ask the question, “ Who gets the better deal?” As Christians, we know where we are going after we die, and we know that a new and better life awaits us there. Is it better to “stay here and fight” or to go to that glorious place where we will be with our Savior?

  The apostle Paul wrestled with this question regarding his own life and ministry and described it for us in one of the most eloquent passages in Scripture:

  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

  —Philippians 1:20–24

  June 6

  Frontline Service

  During World War II the number of Armed Forces chaplains grew thirtyfold from pre-war years. The Army Chaplain Corps expanded to eight thousand, and the Navy to three thousand. Ministers and rabbis from more than forty denominations answered the call to serve their country. These patriotic young men were more than religious leaders. They were counselors, confidants, and friends to their fellow soldiers.

  In 1942, each chaplain conducted an average of 53 personal conferences with troubled soldiers each day. Often serving as morale officers, chaplains umpired ball games, organized orchestras, showed films, taught classes and lectured on sex and morality. And of course, they prayed and conducted regular services, typically using available areas like an aircraft flight deck, an apple orchard, a hand-cut hole in a Pacific-island jungle or a makeshift tent for a church; a jeep, packing case or ammunition box for an altar, or a helmet for a yarmulke, the top of a mess kit for a paten or a canteen cup for a chalice.220

  Typical of these religious leaders who answered their nation’s call was the Reverend Paschal Fowlkes, a twenty-six-year-old Episcopal minister from Washington, D.C. He enlisted in the Army and served as a chaplain to a paratrooper regiment. He felt it his duty to join “ the battle for the preservation of democracy and freedom and justice.”221 Francis Sayre became a Navy chaplain, serving for four years on the USS San Francisco. He said that he enlisted “ because the war was on. I wanted to do my part.”222

  These young men earned a special place in the history of our nation and in the hearts of the men and women they served. During this time of national peril, they combined service to God with service to their nation. Today men and women of faith continue to respond to God’s call to help those in trouble, carrying this tradition forward. They include not only those who minister to our Armed Forces, but also those who go out from our churches to inner cities, schools, and third world countries. All these people doing God’s work on the “front lines” deserve our admiration, prayers, and financial support.

  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

  —1 Peter 4:10

  June 7

  A Greater Fellowship

  As the hour for the invasion of Italy drew near, life on a troopship made vivid impressions on Cpl. William “Bicky” Kiessel. The compartments were dark, hot, and smelly, with crowded, unwashed bodies. The heavy air was mixed with other foul odors. The folding cots were stacked four high with almost no room to walk. Fortunately, religious services were also memorable in a more positive way:

  The energetic chaplains are busy holding services all hours of the day on the various deck levels. Fellows are trying to catch up on years of neglected religion in a few days. And it can be done and is! The Catholics have Mass, Communion and Confessions while the Protestants preach little, pray much, and sing the favorite hymns of the Church… At all these sacred gatherings there is a sincerity and informality that makes for a better and greater fellowship and gives a deeper sense of the intangible value of friends, home, and the eternal verities of life… In those services we all wish we’d lived better, been more complimentary and less critical, written home more lovingly and more often, etc. We are finally face to face with life…223

  Kissel ended his letter with the statement, “ Christians never say goodbye. Sooner or later we all meet again.” This eloquent young soldier obviously was sustained by his faith through difficult times. In his letter, however, he alludes to another aspect of religious worship. Participation in services not only strengthened him personally, but also strengthened the bonds of fellowship with the other soldiers in his unit. This is a great testimony to the power of the body of Christ, which manifests itself whenever Christians come together. We are each able to lead a more victorious life when we are supported and surrounded by our brothers and sisters in Christ.

  So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

  —Romans 12:5

  June 8

  Abide with Me

  The troops learned that the regiment would lead the attack next morning on a strongly held enemy position. Worried men stood close together in the makeshift church, a dusty and battered old commercial building about a mile behind the front lines. Stan Scislowski remembered the scene vividly and marveled at how much closer to God he felt in this rustic setting than in the “regular” churches of his past.

  When it came time in the service to sing, the words of the old familiar hymn had never been so meaningful. “ The expressions of faith that made up this beautiful hymn crossed my mind, and as we sang, I found myself inserting my own feelings between the lines, feelings that harboured the fear that perhaps I might not be coming back at battle’s end. ”224

  The lyrics of “Abide with Me” are meaningful no matter what our own situation may be.

  Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

  The darkness deepens;

  Lord, with me abide.

  When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

  Help of the helpless,

  O abide with me.

  Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

  Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away.

  Change and decay in all around I see;

  O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

  Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,

  But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,

  Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea

  Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

  I fear no foe, with Thee at
hand to bless;

  Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.

  Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?

  I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

  Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;

  Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.

  Heaven’s morning breaks, and the earth’s vain shadows flee;

  In life, in death,

  O Lord,

  Abide with me.225

  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.

  —John 14:16 (KJV)

  June 9

  Family Roots

  During the campaign through Italy, Frank Palilla had an enviable advantage. He spoke fluent Italian. Getting along easily with the natives, he was well supplied with fresh eggs, bread, and other food items. He also had a full canteen of wine most of the time. He shared all this bounty with his comrades, who repaid the favor by keeping him as safe as possible.