There are certain days during the year that Daddy and I always talk. No matter where we are. No matter what we are doing, we call each other. Two of those days are Veterans Day and February 2.
You see, Daddy is 85 years old and a veteran of WWII. He entered the war as soon as he graduated from high school and planned to go kill Hitler all by himself. Instead, after basic training he was shipped to Burma. When most people think of WWII, they think of Europe or the Pacific. But there were also American soldiers in the tiny country of Burma. Why Burma you may ask? It was important at that time because there needed to be a road between India and China where the Americans and British could ship supplies and materials. The important theater of operations called the CBI (China-Burma-India) was led by Frank Merrill, and his company was the Galahad Unit. My dad served in the 124th Cavalry Regiment. Movies have been made about this long forgotten and underappreciated group of special military forces. They were called Merrill’s Marauders.
On February 2, 1945 my dad’s company was in a violent and valiant surge to take a hill near LoiKang Burma. They were under heavy artillery fire. Daddy’s first lieutenant, Jack Knight, was killed right in front of him while taking out enemy pillboxes and foxholes and later received posthumously the Medal of Honor. My dad was shot in the chest by a sniper, and he fell to the ground where he lay the rest of the evening and into the night. He tells of Japanese troops walking all around him jabbing bayonets into the ground while he prayed to God to save him. All night long he prayed and trusted God to deliver him from the hands of the enemy. Sometime in the early hours a fellow soldier and friend crawled up to him and whispered, "Smitty! I’m shot in the legs but I’ll crawl and tell them you’re here."
Fortunately later that day the medics arrived with a stretcher. His friend had crawled a mile in order to report Daddy’s condition and get him help. God had given him the strength he needed to save Daddy’s life. Daddy talks about later waking up to see many of his fellow soldiers’ and friends’ bodies wrapped in white parachutes and stacked in a field. He says, "those are the real heroes."
The medics took Daddy to the base of operations which was merely tents in a rice paddy. But it looked like heaven to a wounded soldier. Later Daddy was loaded into the side of a C-100 which lifted off from a rice paddy and flew him home where he recuperated after many months of medical care and rehabilitation in several different hospitals.
While still recuperating in one hospital he was awarded the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star and several other Army medals. Today he is the most highly decorated WWII Veteran in Tarrant County, Texas. Tomorrow he rides in the Veterans Day Parade in downtown Dallas.
I called Daddy today because I knew he’d be busy tomorrow. Busy receiving many much appreciated thanks for his service to his country. While he’s doing that his daughter will be on her knees praying and thanking God that He heard the prayers of a 19-year old soldier lying on the ground with a hole in his chest half way around the world. No matter where we are God knows where we are. He knows our circumstances. He answers prayers when we cry out to Him. Thank you, Lord, for saving my dad and the lives of other American soldiers that we remember and thank on this Veterans Day.
Copyright 2011 Gloria Fisher.
All rights reserved.
You see, Daddy is 85 years old and a veteran of WWII. He entered the war as soon as he graduated from high school and planned to go kill Hitler all by himself. Instead, after basic training he was shipped to Burma. When most people think of WWII, they think of Europe or the Pacific. But there were also American soldiers in the tiny country of Burma. Why Burma you may ask? It was important at that time because there needed to be a road between India and China where the Americans and British could ship supplies and materials. The important theater of operations called the CBI (China-Burma-India) was led by Frank Merrill, and his company was the Galahad Unit. My dad served in the 124th Cavalry Regiment. Movies have been made about this long forgotten and underappreciated group of special military forces. They were called Merrill’s Marauders.
On February 2, 1945 my dad’s company was in a violent and valiant surge to take a hill near LoiKang Burma. They were under heavy artillery fire. Daddy’s first lieutenant, Jack Knight, was killed right in front of him while taking out enemy pillboxes and foxholes and later received posthumously the Medal of Honor. My dad was shot in the chest by a sniper, and he fell to the ground where he lay the rest of the evening and into the night. He tells of Japanese troops walking all around him jabbing bayonets into the ground while he prayed to God to save him. All night long he prayed and trusted God to deliver him from the hands of the enemy. Sometime in the early hours a fellow soldier and friend crawled up to him and whispered, "Smitty! I’m shot in the legs but I’ll crawl and tell them you’re here."
Fortunately later that day the medics arrived with a stretcher. His friend had crawled a mile in order to report Daddy’s condition and get him help. God had given him the strength he needed to save Daddy’s life. Daddy talks about later waking up to see many of his fellow soldiers’ and friends’ bodies wrapped in white parachutes and stacked in a field. He says, "those are the real heroes."
The medics took Daddy to the base of operations which was merely tents in a rice paddy. But it looked like heaven to a wounded soldier. Later Daddy was loaded into the side of a C-100 which lifted off from a rice paddy and flew him home where he recuperated after many months of medical care and rehabilitation in several different hospitals.
While still recuperating in one hospital he was awarded the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star and several other Army medals. Today he is the most highly decorated WWII Veteran in Tarrant County, Texas. Tomorrow he rides in the Veterans Day Parade in downtown Dallas.
I called Daddy today because I knew he’d be busy tomorrow. Busy receiving many much appreciated thanks for his service to his country. While he’s doing that his daughter will be on her knees praying and thanking God that He heard the prayers of a 19-year old soldier lying on the ground with a hole in his chest half way around the world. No matter where we are God knows where we are. He knows our circumstances. He answers prayers when we cry out to Him. Thank you, Lord, for saving my dad and the lives of other American soldiers that we remember and thank on this Veterans Day.
Copyright 2011 Gloria Fisher.
All rights reserved.
