Posted on 09/11/2004 8:20:23 PM PDT by Ol' Sox
My step-dad, Wendall, is dying in the hospital tonight. He has lived a good long life, has suffered much over the last two years and is ready to move on. He's had the opportunity to tell each of us in the family good-bye, knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and is as well prepared to pass on as any man I've ever met.
Wendall was a Sergeant in the 296th Combat Engineer Battalion, VII US Corps during WWII. He landed at Normandy on D+2 and wound up at Bad Berka, Germany at the end of the war. He had never spoken of his service until one day about three years ago. While watching a football game together, he suddenly began to talk, and three hours later, had recounted his World War II experience. I got an atlas out and took notes.
He saw combat and built bridges. Carentan, Sedan, Bouillon, Florenville, Verviers, Monschau, Bad Berka, Buchenwald, Berlin. He was stationed close to Malmedy and remembered the dread he felt when he learned about the massacre during the Battle of the Bulge. He entered the Buchenwald concentration camp the day after it was liberated. His unit helped to take the residents of Bad Berka to Buchenwald. Under orders, they turned this area over to the Russians and moved on to Berlin, where I've heard that they entered the city three days before any other American unit.
Tonight, I ask for your prayers for this good man, who served his country with honor, his family with steadfastness and love, and God with a humble and generous spirit.
God bless him....and thanks.
I'm offering up to the Lord above prayers.
D2
Amen and AMEN! In these troubled times, I firmly believe that the Day of the Lord draws near.
You know, if you'd like to know what that place will be like, what your dad is going to enjoy and my parents are already enjoying...read this book by Anthony DeStefano: A Travel Guide to Heaven.
You have our prayers for this fine old warrior. And we thank God for sharing him with us for this short time. May he go to his just reward peacefully, and may his family be comforted knowing he will soon rejoin many of his old friends on the other side, young, healthy and strong.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy, Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners
now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
May the Lord gather Wendall, his faithful servant and freedom
warrior, and wrap his loving arms around this soul who is passing from the earth.
God be with Wendall and his family.
Peace be yours in Jesus our Lord.
Another of our finest generation is about to collect his final reward. God speed to him and your family. At no time in history have so many owed so much to such as your relative.
Beautiful words to your step dad. Godspeed for this wonderful patriot.
His life we honor with our country's freedom. Prayers to you all.
BluSky
Prayers sent for this dad and soldier. Mine was one, too, and we lost him.
knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and is as well prepared to pass on as any man I've ever met.
PTL..time to meet the Beloved. What a wonderous thing.
I hope there's a place, way up in the sky,
Where pilots can go, when they have to die.
A place where a guy can buy a cold beer
For a friend and a comrade, whose memory is dear.
A place where no doctor or lawyer can tread,
Nor a management type would ere be caught dead;
Just a quaint little place, kind of dark, full of smoke,
Where they like to sing loud, and love a good joke;
The kind of a place where a lady could go
And feel safe and protected, by the men she would know.
There must be a place where old pilots go,
When their paining is finished, and their airspeed gets low
Where the whiskey is old, and the women are young,
And songs about flying and dying are sung,
Where you'd see all the fellows who'd flown west before,
And they'd call out your name, as you came through the door.
Who would buy you a drink, if your thirst should be bad,
And relate to the others, "He was quite a good lad! "
And then through the mist, you'd spot an old guy
You had not seen in years, though he taught you to fly.
He'd nod his old head, and grin ear to ear;
And say, "Welcome, my son, I'm pleased that you're here."
"For this is the place where true flyers come,"
"When their journey is over, and the war has been won."
"They've come here at last to be safe and alone"
"From the government clerks and the management drone,"
"Politicians and lawyers, the Feds and the noise,"
"Where all hours are happy, and these good ole boys"
"Can relax with a cool one, and a well deserved rest;"
This is heaven, my son
You've passed your last test."
God bless him. Just lost my Dad to cancer. WWII vet Okinawa.
God's grace and comfort to you and your family. Thank you for your father's service.
My thanks to this fine American and my prayers for you and your family.
Job well done.
"WW2 Normandy veteran"
(I just sat up straight in my chair!)
When I saw that you were there - that someone that did all that you did so we could today enjoy the freedom and proserity such as the world has never known. Well, I am truly honored that you would take a moment and pray with me.
Thank you, sir. My parents were both in nazi occupied europe and neither me nor my 16 year old son would be here now if it were not for you and all of the other brave soldiers that risked and sacrificed their lives to keep freedom from disappearing from the face of the earth.
God bless you and yours! Thank you!
Stay Strong,
Fuzzy122
God Bless your family in your time of need.
You and your stepfather and your family are in my prayers.
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