In a far better place now.
Posted on 12/22/2004 10:29:44 AM PST by StoneColdGOP
WHITTIER -- Armed only with his Bible and his faith, George Barber survived the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944.
Fifty-six years later, as the only surviving chaplain from that horrendous battle, he delivered the opening prayer at the dedication ceremony for the D-Day Museum in New Orleans in 2000, joining celebrities Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw, Steven Spielberg and others.
On Friday, Barber, 90, died at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier.
Born Aug. 26, 1914, he was 27 in October 1941 when he joined the 11th Horse Calvary the youngest chaplain on active duty in all the branches of the military.
The attack on Pearl Harbor two months later changed the ways of war, and Barber was in the Army with Gen. George Patton as he built two tank divisions.
Barber held 11 church services on 11 ships on June 4, 1944. Two days later, he accompanied the 1st Infantry Division as troops stormed Omaha Beach in France. When he hit the beach, he could only huddle in a foxhole and pray.
"It was horrible,' he told the Whittier Daily News in a 2003 interview, remembering the 1,531 of "his men' who were killed that day. "I could only work as if everything depended on me and pray as if everything depended on God.'
Barber survived that battle and others, going on to the Battle of the Bulge, where his Jeep was torn apart by a German artillery shell.
He later served as an Air Force chaplain in Japan and Korea during the Korean War, where he was instrumental in the founding of World Vision. Though too old for active duty in Vietnam, Barber counseled and prayed with troops at March Air Force Base as they awaited deployment.
"He was a pastor between wars,' Donald Barber, his son, said. "He pastored at Park Avenue Christian Church in Montebello from 1936 to 1956 with time off for the military and then at First Christian Church in Pico Rivera until 1967.'
Retirement was more than a rocking chair for the chaplain, however. He enjoyed talking about his war experiences, whether to a national organization, local American Legion or VFW post or a news reporter. In addition to delivering the opening prayer at the D-Day Museum, Barber spoke at four other events on the occasion of D-Day anniversaries.
"We all heard all the stories, many times, but I think we learned from them,' Donald Barber said.
Chaplain Barber is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, G. Russell and Carolyn Barber of Macon, Ga., and Donald and Sherry Barber of Whittier. He also leaves four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Monday at Hillside Chapel, Rose Hills Memorial Park, 3888 Workman Mill Road, Whittier.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the D-Day Museum, 945 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70130, or online at www.ddaymuseum.org/tribute
I was privileged to be acquainted with Colonel Barber and to have heard many of his stories and accounts firsthand. Another remarkable man from a remarkable generation of Americans.
Wow....what a life story. I thank you for posting it. You're right...most of them media will ignore the passing. After all, he is one of those hated Christians.....
In a far better place now.
ping
Awesome. Simply awesome.
Quite a story. The real shame is that hundreds of thousands of other stories like it will never be told as the "Greatest Generation" is dying by the hundreds/thousands each day. It's very sad indeed. They are where the term "class" originated from. My father would be 96 today had he not died back in the early 90s. He was in the Battle of the Bulge. The stories he'd tell of those times and of those men, were inspiring beyond any other "education" I've ever received. I miss him every day.
We pray for him.
Great photo..thanks..
Rest in peace, Chaplain. Job well done!
May he rest in peace.
It took an incredible amount of guts to storm the beach at Normandy armed with a rifle. I don't think that words can describe the amount of courage it took to hit the beach armed only with a Bible.
What an incredible man, a true servant of God.
We live in Tennessee now, but both my Husband and myself were raised in Whittier, and both of my parents are buried at Rose Hills.
Being a pastor in So. Calif. is a hard hard job.
And yes, I imagine being a pastor in SoCal is as hard as being on in SoFL.
You must not miss this article.
Salute!
I hate orange. GO AGGIES!
Hey, that could be heaven to some people.
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