To: The Mayor; DollyCali

Thank you, Mayor..It’s an oldie but I love it and post it ever so often...Dolly’s post about what aircraft carriers can do inspired me to bring it out of retirement.
Is tomorrow the election for you?

21 posted on 11/05/2007 4:47:55 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)

Lost But Not Forgotten

Lost at sea after a submarine torpedoed his ship, God gave Harlan Twible the courage and strength to survive.

by Chris Larson

Racing across the Philippine Sea in poor visibility, just after midnight on July 31, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was shattered by two Japanese torpedoes as they ripped through the ship’s bow. The cruiser was headed home after completing its secret mission to deliver major components of the atomic bomb, destined for Hiroshima, to Tinian Island in the Northern Marianas chain. Their successful operation would play a major role in the surrender of the Japanese and the ending of WWII.

Harlan Twible was just leaving his post as watch officer when the explosions occurred. Within minutes of giving the order to abandon ship, Harlan was leading hundreds of men into the dark, nighttime water. Suddenly, the twenty-three year old officer, fresh out of the Naval Academy, found himself in charge of a group of 325 scared, young sailors. “I knew that I had to act. I don’t know how I got the message, but I’m sure that God said to me, ’Do something,’” Harlan recalls. The ship sank below the surface in only twelve minutes.

Unknown to the crew, the explosion had destroyed the radio before an SOS message had gone out. The US Navy didn’t know they were missing. To make matters worse, the survivors found themselves treading water in shark-infested seas.

The first goal was to keep his group of men together, most of whom were wounded. Safety was in numbers, Harlan stressed. “If we separated and went our own way, there would be no way to comfort each other. And that was the biggest thing on my mind … how to keep these people thinking that they’re going to be saved,” he says. “If we just sit in this water and do the things that we should do, God will take care of us.”

But as the days wore on the death toll was rising. Some of the men injured in the original attack were succumbing to their injuries and shark attacks were becoming a grizzly reality.

Harlan continued to emphasize that safety was in numbers. “We set up shark watches and I didn’t have to designate a man. 325 men, less whatever had died, became the watch.”

The watches went on for days and the men still hoped and prayed for rescue. “The sharks never came into our midst,” Harlan explains. “They always attacked the people who were on the extremity of the group. So, this also meant that the people wanted to stay together, because they didn’t want to be on the outside of the group and get attacked by sharks.”

Harlan Twible, already the officer in charge of these men, also became their chaplain. “One of the first things that I did, I would say to them, ‘Let us pray.’ And we would start to pray and quietness would come over the group. They would close their eyes, they didn’t see the sharks. And they would pray. I led the prayer, and they stayed with me in my prayer, and my prayer would be rather long, because we had much to pray for.”

They had no food or drinking water, but the men still held out hope for rescue. “Four days and five nights after our sinking, we were sighted accidentally by a Navy plane on anti-submarine patrol,” Harlan recalls. “He circled and wagged his wings to assure us that we had been sighted.

“Within an hour, a Catalina flying boat and a cargo plane returned. The cargo plane dropped a lifeboat full of survival gear, while the Catalina circled to keep watch until rescue ships arrived.”

Harlan speaks candidly about the role faith in God played in getting these men through this terrible ordeal. “There may have been men going into the water that did not believe in God. I don’t think there was any man coming out that didn’t believe in God.”

Today, Harlan Twible shares openly about his experience. And when asked if he suffers from any “survivor guilt,” he recalls an interview he had done for the ‘Inside Edition’ TV program. The reporter asked him, “Why did you live, Mr. Twible, when other people died?” Harlan simply responded, “My answer was obvious. It was God’s will. God had other things for me to do on this earth.”

22 posted on 11/05/2007 5:25:37 PM PST by Dubya (Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,but by me)

Thank you, Dubya.
The ordeal the men of the Indianapolis endured was horrendous.

I thank God for men like Harlan Twible.

23 posted on 11/05/2007 5:38:52 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)

To: The Mayor; Aquamarine; beachn4fun; Billie; Diver Dave; DollyCali; dutchess; GodBlessUSA; jaycee; ...

GOOD MILITARY MONDAY TO THE FINEST!

The Soldier’s Code

1) I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

2) I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist.

3) If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

4) If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me, and will back them up in every way.

5) When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am bound to give only name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies, or harmful to their cause.

6) I will never forget that I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, August, 1955.

24 posted on 11/05/2007 6:04:23 PM PST by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3rd Bn. 5th Marines, RVN 1969. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!)

To: The Mayor; All

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

[click on picture]

Run to the Sounds of the Guns
~~~by Texas Songwriter~~~
aka Jeff Russell

25 posted on 11/05/2007 6:43:09 PM PST by luvie (Friendship is neither a contest nor a race. What matters is the feeling involved. <3)

Prayers going up for the election tomorrow.

I pray the people of Erie County will open their eyes
and see that change is needed up there and that you are
the instrument of that change.

Fingers crossed, too! :D

26 posted on 11/05/2007 6:46:42 PM PST by luvie (Friendship is neither a contest nor a race. What matters is the feeling involved. <3)

27 posted on 11/05/2007 7:33:03 PM PST by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)

To: The Mayor; All

A moving story by Christopher Hitchens:

A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/hitchens200711?currentPage=1

Having volunteered for Iraq, Mark Daily was killed in January [2007] by an I.E.D. Dismayed to learn that his pro-war articles helped persuade Daily to enlist, the author measures his words against a family’s grief and a young man’s sacrifice.

28 posted on 11/05/2007 7:35:01 PM PST by Lorianne

To: Aquamarine; beachn4fun; Billie; Diver Dave; DollyCali; dutchess; GodBlessUSA; jaycee; JustAmy; ...

Good morning, everyone! Happy Tuesday!

29 posted on 11/06/2007 5:51:47 AM PST by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3rd Bn. 5th Marines, RVN 1969. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!)

To: ST.LOUIE1; Billie; dutchess; DollyCali; GodBlessUSA; Mrs Mayor; Mama_Bear; Aquamarine; JustAmy; ...

November 6, 2007

Better Yet

ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download

READ: Philippians 1:19-26

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. —Philippians 1:21

Sir Francis Bacon said, “I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death.” Woody Allen said, “I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

It’s not death that’s so frightening. It’s the dying that scares us. As Paul faced imprisonment and the prospect of dying in a jail cell, he shared his view about life and death: “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). What a perspective!

Death is our enemy (1 Cor. 15:25-28), but it does not possess the finality that so many dread. There is something waiting for believers beyond this life—something better.

Someone has said, “What the caterpillar thinks is the end of life, the butterfly thinks is just the beginning.” George MacDonald wrote, “How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a sunset.”

I love this paraphrase of Philippians 1:21, “To me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying—well, that’s better yet!” (TLB). During our physical life, we have opportunities to serve Jesus. But one day, we will actually be in His presence. Our fear will melt away when we see Him face to face.

That’s the “better yet” the apostle Paul is talking about!

Death?—Christ said not death;
He called it sleep;
A vast awaking, a new day breaking,
A bright way taking, with visions deep. —H. Frost

For the Christian, the fear of death will give way to the fullness of life.

Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 37-39; Hebrews 3

30 posted on 11/06/2007 6:21:53 AM PST by The Mayor ( A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.—Proverbs 16:9)

To: ConorMacNessa; GodBlessUSA; Mrs.Nooseman; LUV W; DollyCali; The Mayor; MEG33; Jack Deth; ...

31 posted on 11/06/2007 6:41:22 AM PST by beachn4fun (The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose." Frederick Douglas)

Hi Beachn
Happy Tuesday to you! :)

32 posted on 11/06/2007 6:52:09 AM PST by GodBlessUSA (US Troops, Past, Present and Future, God Bless You and Thank You!. Prayers said for our Heroes!)

Good Luck Rus! Mom and I have praying for you!

33 posted on 11/06/2007 6:54:14 AM PST by DollyCali (Don't tell GOD how big your storm is -- Tell the storm how B-I-G your God is!)

Good Morning The Mayor
Thinking of you today! Saying prayer you win. NY needs you.

Thank you for Military Tribute and the daily scriptures!

34 posted on 11/06/2007 6:56:37 AM PST by GodBlessUSA (US Troops, Past, Present and Future, God Bless You and Thank You!. Prayers said for our Heroes!)

To: ConorMacNessa

Good Morning Conor :)
Great post!

35 posted on 11/06/2007 6:57:28 AM PST by GodBlessUSA (US Troops, Past, Present and Future, God Bless You and Thank You!. Prayers said for our Heroes!)

Good Morning Luv
Miss chatting! Love your Military Tribute table!

36 posted on 11/06/2007 6:58:09 AM PST by GodBlessUSA (US Troops, Past, Present and Future, God Bless You and Thank You!. Prayers said for our Heroes!)

Good Morning Meg :)
Lovely post. God Bless Our Military Heroes!

37 posted on 11/06/2007 6:59:25 AM PST by GodBlessUSA (US Troops, Past, Present and Future, God Bless You and Thank You!. Prayers said for our Heroes!)

Good morning, GeeBee - how are you doing today?

38 posted on 11/06/2007 7:05:34 AM PST by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3rd Bn. 5th Marines, RVN 1969. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!)

To: ConorMacNessa

How are you today, Conor? It’s a rainy day and I can’t seem to get motivated. One more coffee ;)

39 posted on 11/06/2007 7:07:33 AM PST by GodBlessUSA (US Troops, Past, Present and Future, God Bless You and Thank You!. Prayers said for our Heroes!)

Doing great, thanks - rainy here today, too, although I think it has passed for the most part.

40 posted on 11/06/2007 7:10:34 AM PST by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3rd Bn. 5th Marines, RVN 1969. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!)

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