Friday, December 04, 2020
Try Prayer
It happened at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Versailles, France on December 15, 1944. Gen. Omar Bradley who commanded U.S. land forces in the West was desperate for replacements. The U.S. army had crossed the German border and was making its way through Hürtgen Forest. They were dealing with an average of 2,000 casualties a day and there were more than 50,000 cases of trench foot. Although Allies had experienced some momentum from their Normandy invasion, the war was taking its toll and the Allies seemed to be losing steam. Christmas was only ten days away and bad weather made matters worse. A week later at Bastogne it looked as if the war might be lost. The troops were in desperate need of supplies but airdrops were hindered by the weather.
At this point in the war Adolf Hitler felt very confident. He had recently survived an assassination attempt at Wolfschanze, and he was convinced that his choices were being guided by God Himself. He was sure that God had saved him so that he could save the German people.
That is when General Patton had an idea. Patton’s deputy chief, Colonel Paul Harkins would later tell about it in his book “War as I Knew It.” Harkins relied on Patton’s diaries for the details and he records that Patton summoned Chaplain O’Neill into his office and said, “Chaplain, I want you to publish a prayer for good weather .” An hour or so later O’Neill handed Patton a card on which he had written this prayer:
Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.
Patton ordered that 250,000 copies of the prayer be printed and given to every man in the Third Army. And here is how Isbouts records God’s answer to this prayer prayed on behalf of His justice.
As the morning of 23 dawns over the men huddling in their snowy foxholes in and around Bastogne, the soldiers look up and see something miraculous. Despite a forecast that has promised more doom and gloom, they find themselves squinting into the sun. The sky above is a vast dome of deep blue that makes the snowy fields around them sparkle like diamonds. Though it is still cold, the men feel the warmth of the sun on their skin, and their spirits rise. Then, at 9:30 a.m., comes the sound that they have longed to hear: the distinctive, deep-throated throb of Pratt & Whitney engines. A small flight of C - 47s, venerable Dakota, appears on the horizon and skims low over the ridges in their final approach to Bastogne.
Bastogne was just one of the many moving pieces connected with the "Battle of Bulge", which was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II. It lasted one month, one week and two days and would be the third deadliest campaign in American history. But it would also be another turning point for the Allies. The prayer issued by Patton was one of many prayers God answered as the world was fighting the Third Reich, which was trying to exterminate “undesirables” and establish a master race that would have squelched freedom everywhere. God does not always ensure justice in this life, but if you are in a tough spot, try prayer.
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