Larkin Spivey - Stories of Faith and Courage from World War II

This book is dedicated to the memory of James Arthur Norton Jr. and Edward R. Norton. These young men were pioneers of aviation in my hometown of Conway, South Carolina, and served together in the Army Air Corps during World War II. They were killed in action on May 17, 1943, flying together in a B–26 bomber over Nazi–held Holland. The Norton twins were my mother’s younger brothers and my uncles. I was three years old at the time of their death. Their adventurous and heroic lives were legendary in my family, inspiring my brothers to become Air Force pilots and me to pursue a Marine Corps career.

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.

1. German Invasion of the Low Countries and France May 1940

2. Japanese Expansion in the Pacific July 1942

3. The Battle of Midway June 4, 1942

4. Operations in North Africa 1942–1943

5. Advance in the Western Pacific 1942–1944

6. The Fight for Sicily and Italy 1943–1944

7. Across the Pacific 1943–1945

8. Allied Landings on D–Day June 6, 1944

9. Allied Advances in Europe 1944–1945

10. Iwo Jima 1945

11. Okinawa 1945

I am grateful to Jocelyn Green for her many contributions to this book. Jocelyn is a respected freelance writer, editor, and author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives . In addition to her thoroughly professional editing work, she has written a number of daily devotionals in this book herself, each designated on the last line with her initials: (JG).

I wish to express gratitude to my agent, David Sanford, for his encouragement and for creating the opportunity for me to write this book. I am also thankful to Dan Penwell of AMG Publishers for the genius behind the Battlefields & Blessings series and for his confidence in me to be a part of it.

I especially acknowledge the great contribution of Catherine–Alexa Rountree, who has been a faithful research assistant throughout this project and is responsible for much of the material from which its stories are derived. In addition to her many amazing qualities, she is also my loving daughter.

I thank the members of the clergy who have provided their expertise and guidance: the Reverends Robert Sturdy, Aubrey Floyd, and Carol Dickerson.

I appreciate the wisdom and advice given daily by my wife, Lani. Her insights have added immeasurably to the spiritual content of this book. She has been my loving partner in this project, as in every other aspect of our marriage.

Finally, I acknowledge my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whom I came to know late in my life, and who changed my life eternally. My career as a writer and speaker has had one goal: to glorify him. While writing this book I have prayed constantly for his guidance and inspiration. Although I can’t positively assert that he has always provided these things, I can assure the reader that I could never have completed three hundred and sixty–five daily devotionals on my own.

Writing this book has been a privilege and a blessing. I have deep family roots in World War II and have always revered the “Greatest Generation” who endured and won that great conflict. I grew up building models of ships and airplanes from that era and listening to my own father tell of convoy duty in the Battle of the Atlantic.

My previous books have been about God’s providential hand in America’s past, when the nation’s survival was at stake. World War II was clearly one of those times. Victory may seem inevitable now, in retrospect, but history reveals dark days for America and her allies, especially during the early years of that war, when the forces of Germany and Japan were advancing triumphantly around the globe. With obsolete equipment and meager numbers, British and U.S. military forces needed many miracles to survive and slowly turn the tide of the war. God did indeed bless these nations during their darkest hours.

I want to assure the reader that I am not suggesting that God causes or even looks favorably on war. I emphasize my belief that this in not the case. Human nature seems to be the completely adequate explanation for conflict between individuals and nations. I believe that God is disappointed when wars occur and does not take sides in such conflicts. I do believe, however, that God has an agenda and can use any human event or condition to further it. I believe that one of his important agendas for mankind has been human freedom, and that this was the basis for his favor of the American and Allied cause during World War II.

As a Christian and one who has fought in war, I condemn it. However, as a wise man said, “They are dead who have seen the end of war.” I have to believe that there are things worth fighting for, and that there are times when God blesses those who do. I admit that my attitudes are colored by my own career in military service. One of my reference works as a young officer made the following statement that I believe is true today:

One may abhor war fully, despise militarism absolutely, deplore all the impulses in human nature which make armed force necessary, and still agree that for the world as we know it, the main hope is that “peace loving nations can be made obviously capable of defeating nations which are willing to wage aggressive war.” 1

These words come not from a warrior, but from the great intellectual and pacifist Bertrand Russell.

This book is a daily devotional based on inspirational stories from World War II. Some of these stories reflect God’s miraculous intervention in the larger course of the war, but most deal with the faith and courage of individual soldiers, sailors, and citizens. These stories may reflect to some extent a universal tendency to turn to God in perilous times, however, I believe they more consistently reveal a widespread spirituality among the American and British populace and the leaders of that era. We can only pray that our nation continues to seek God’s favor and to fulfill God’s purpose now and in the future.

As a daily devotional, this book is centered on the stories contained in the readings for each day of the year. There is also information intended to provide the historical context of these stories and to inform the reader about the course of the war at important stages. Each month presents a separate campaign of the war with an historical overview at the beginning of that month. Daily devotionals during the month pertain to that campaign. My selection of this material reflects my own understanding and interests. This book is not a complete history, and many important events could not be included.

In early May 1940 almost two million French and English soldiers waited anxiously for the long-expected invasion of France. Allied strategists were convinced the German attack would come through Holland and Belgium in a sweeping movement similar to the opening of World War I. These expectations were fulfilled on May 10 when massive German forces poured across the Dutch border. French and British units advanced immediately northward to the Dyle River where the opposing forces met in the opening clashes of the war.