The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, April 23, 1943, Image 7
V
r tu DAY, APKtL 23, 1943
THE NEWBERRY SUN
A Soldiers Letter
The Wilds of No Where
The Land of Death and Destruction
Received September 3, 1942
Dear Sis:
In writing this letter to you I don’t
know where to start first. So many
things have happened since last I
wrote. Well, to begin with, I have
escaped death at the hand of an
enemy in a way so amazing I am
still in a daze You remember I told
you wheai I knew I was going over.
I was going over armed with a Bible?
. . . That Bible is the reason I am
still here and able to write this let
ter to all America. . .
Here is the story: My buddy and
I were sent out on duty with our
equipment in the work I told you
before was our job. We had jusi
received information. The most im
portant for weeks. When we were
discovered by the enemy, I gave my
buddy the information we had col
lected, told him to beat it with it,
prepared mystlf to face them. It
was the first time I’d been faced
with the necessity of pointing my
gun at a man and blasting the life
from his miserable body. I thought
fast: then I said, “Lord, it’s Your
responsibility now.” My buddy had
not obeyed my order. He had no
such scruples. As I reached for my
carbine, a shot from one of them
struck me in the breast and blasted
me down. Thinking I was dead, my
pal jumped for me, grabbed my car
bine as well as hi: own, stood astride
my body, blasting away with bcth
guns. He was blasted too, his knees,
with three bullet wounds, but when
he finished, there was not a one of
them left. He was amazed when 1
rolled over and tried to get up. The
force of that bullet had only stunned
me. Dazedly, I wondered why. I
pulled that little Bible out of my
pocket and in utter muteness looked
at the ugly hole in the cover. . . It
had ripped through Genesis, Exodus.
Leviticus, Numbers, on through the
Pentateuch, on through the other
books Samuel, Kings, Chronicles,
and kept going. Where do you think
it stopped? In the middle of Psalm
91, pointing like a finger at this
verse: “A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right
hand, but it shall not come nigh
thee Only with thine eyes shall
thou behold and see the reward of
the wicked.”
Sis, when I read that verse it rais
ed me three feet off the ground. I did
not know there was such a verse in
the Bible. I’d been reading mostly
in the New Testament. I read the
rest of that chapter—the first part
was riped apart. In utter humility
I said, “Thank you, precious God,
and felt like a little boy that had,
escaped the mouth of an enemy of
P When I got my buddy back to the
post, he said, “Lute (he calls me
Lute), I’ve had enough. This con
vinces me. Come on, I want to get
right with God, starting right now.”
He wouldn’t let them tend his
wounds. He said, “Nothing matters
now but this.’ He stayed on his knees
sixteen hours with three wounds. His
body became so numb he couldn’t
move it. But he would not give up.
When the Lord finally came in, he
moved! That soldier went crazy for
God. He jumped over chair (I
mean boxes). He jumped over bunks.
He even ran outside and shouted to
the whole camp.
Since I’ve given my heart to God,
and talk with the boys, hold meet
ings, and prayed with them, God has
given me 52 souls. Twenty-five of
my buddies have prayed through and
come out for God. God even gave
me my general. It took a long time.
He was so dignified. But God told
me to go after him. I struck on his
trail until he was grounded and
came through. The Spirit of God
hovered over that tent with a sort
of glimmering golden haze. I tell
you, Sis, prayer is going to win this
war. Not guns alone. Fervent, ag
onizing prayer I know is. God is
bringing them in one by one. The
whole company will be a company of
praying men. God has promised
them to me. Given me assurance.
Think of it, 120 praying men and
one general in one regiment! When
that happens this unit b'ill be un
conquerable. Pray, Sis, pray as you
never prayed before. Tell everyone
to pray. Tell all America to go to
its knees.
Before each decisive victory any
where over here, sometimes for days,
there has been a feeling of people
praying far away. The feeling is so
strong, you can hear. One of the
men, the most stubborn of them, said
in th e stillness of the night, “God!
did you hear anything? Sounded like
people pijaying from somg distant
place. Must be hearing things in this
dead place.”
So pray, everyone. It will have to
come from afar. No one prays in
this land of utter desolation. God
has turned His face away from the
horror and destruction man has
brought on himself.
Again. I plead, tell America to
pray! This war will not end until
nations and people have paid in blood
and tears for thrusting God out of
their hearts, out of their nations,
out of their lands. And tell them
for God’s sake to send Bibles, and
more Bibles, and more Bibles! A Bi
ble will give him confidence that
God is with him. I’d like to have
thi < ; lei ter broadcast from every rad
io station in America. Try to get it
on the air, in the papers, in every
thing that is printed. Make copies
of it. Send it from coast to coast.
Tell them the Army wants prayers
and Bibles.
And you complacent, bridge-play
ing, fox-trotting, cocktail-drinking
mothers, why didn’t you teach your
sons about God instead of handing
him a cigarette, a cocktail glass and
a dance .program! Get on*your knees
and ask God to forgive your sins.
Then pray for the Army — pray,
pray, pray! Only atonement for sin
can stop the shelling, the killing, the
murdering. Even the shells that
come whizzing through the air
scream only one word — “Atone
ment!’’ ... I could go on but I am
so tired, so weary. But in all so
happy to see them coming to God,
one by one. So tell them to pray,
atone for sin, and keep praying. And
when you send things to your boys,
send Bibles. They want Bibles.
Your loving brother,
Lieutenant
(Note:—Herewith is presented a
letter from a Lieutenant in the Unit
ed Sates Army in some far-off battle
front to his sister in Pennsylvania.
The original is in possession of Rev.
Ray B. White, of Zaraphath, New
Jersey.—The Editor.)
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NOTICE OF ELECTION
A petition having been filed ac
cording to law with the Newberry
county Board of Education by the
patrons and resident taxpayers of
Rutherford school district No. 23,
asking for an election for the pur
pose of naming a trustee of the
above mentioned school district, said
election is hereby granted and called
on the 24th day of April, 1943, be
tween the hours of 8 a. m. and 4:00
p. m. The residence of Mr. H. H.
Boland has been designated as the
voting place. All patrons and resi
dent taxpayers are entitled to vote
in such election.
NEWBERRY COUNTY BOARD
OF EDUCATION.
BACK UP
YOUR BOY
Buy an Additional
Bond Today
In Tne School
Of Prayer
By Paul Stewart
Pastor First Baptist Church,
Pelzer, S. C.
There is no record of the disciples
asking, ‘Teach us to preach,” or
“Teach us to heal,” but they did ask,
“Teach us to pray. “Luke 11:1-13.
It is significent to note that we
get most of our knowledge of the
prayer life Jesus from Luke. He
continually points out the habitual
prayerfulness of the kneeling Christ.
The human side of Jesus is shown by
Dr. Luke. He presents Jesus as the
pattern of our faith and the example
of our devotion. We need to gaze
upon the pictuse of Luke’s praying
Christ. What Christ needed we sore
ly need and cannot afford to neglect.
Christ should be the pattern of our
faith and the example of our devo
tion.
The praying of Christ fired the
disciples to want to pray. They were
not satisfied with their praying. Are
we? It is the highest exercise of the
soul, and requires for its presenta
tion the concentration of all its pow
ers. In no duty do we need more
careful instruction or divine aid. It
is a perfect Man and perfect Deity
that the disciples asked, “Lord, teach
us to pray.’ Jesus taught His disci
ple by precept and example.
By precept Jesus gave instruction
to His disciples how to pray. By the
prayers of the Pharasee and the Pub
lican Jesus taught that prayers
should be simple. It is not the gilded
paper and the excellent writing and
the faultless rhetoric of a petition
that prevails with a king, but he mov
ing sense of it.
Jesus laid emphasis on private
prayers, and is example of the same.
We can pray in secret, even though
we are surrounded with people. As
Isaac Taylor says, “No man can hin
der my private address to God; every
man can build a chapel in his own
breast, himself the priest, his heart
the sacrifice and the earth he treads
the altar.’ Isaac’s closet was a field,
David’s closet w-as his bed-chamber,
the Lord’s closet was a mountain,
Peter’s closet was a house-top. Hez-
ekiah’s closet was turning his face to
the wall and praying to the Lord.
There should be reverence. “Our
Father.” His name is holy. We
should seek spiritual things first and
that God’s will be done. Great
changes would take place if His will
was done. Some businesses would
change. Many things stopped. Tem
poral things should be sought after
spiritual things. Jesus teaches us
to pray with a forgiving spirit. We
will not be forgiven if we do not for
give.
In praying, Jesus says for us to
keep on. In the garden He prayed
the same prayer three times, with
variations. George Muller prayed
daily for two men for sixty years.
One of these men was converted
shortly before his death, and the
other within a year after his death.
Lord, teach us to pray, to pray on,
to pray without ceasing.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray
by example. Example is the best way
of teaching. If prayer needs justifi
cation, here it is. Here is an argu
ment that cannot be refuted. The
fortress no doubt can destroy. The
best Christians are sometimes tempt
ed to ask, “Is it worth while to pray,
does it pay. or do any good?” They
join the cynicss of Job’s day by ask
ing, “What profit shall we have, if
we pray unto him?” (Job 21:15).
Think of John Knox, the praying
Carpenter’s
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Carpenter’s
Reformer, who said, “Give me Scot
land, or I die”, the man that Queen
Mary dreaded more than an invading
army. And yet he says: “At one
time I was sadly tossed on the an
gry sea of unbelief concerning pray
er. I was driven by the storm of
doubt that threatened to wreck my
faith. When all at once. I remem
bered that Jesus prayed. I saw Him
at prayer. Immediately the storm
ceased, my confidence returned, and
a great peace filed my soul.”
Jesus had special times to pray.
Martin Luther when asked by his
friends what his plans for the fol
lowing day were, answered: “Work,
work from early to late. In fact, I
have so much to do I spend the first
three hours in prayer.
Jesus prayed early in the morning.
Prayer is the key of the morning, th e
bolt of the evening. Let us get the
victory before the trail. Jesus pray
ed all night. Often He spent all
night in prayer. He prayed at any
time during the day. The message
to us is: Do not carry a burden, or
grief all day long waiting for the
evening devotion, have a special word
with the Father at once. Why do
we have telephones in our hemes and
places of business? At any time,
anywhere, when the need arises, let
us use the telephone of prayer.
Before making a great decision
Jesus prayed. He spent all night in
prayer before choosing the disciples.
We would get along better in all
walks of life if we prayed over
everything. Take everything to God
in prayer. Jesus prayed before His
miricles. and after His great achieve
ment. He prayed when He was pop
ular, and when His popularity waned.
Through prayer Jesus was forti
fied before temptations. It is too
late for a soldier to buckle on his
armor and hunt up his equipment
when the enemy is upon him. He
must be prepared, so must w-e; and
prayer is the best preparation we
can make for meeting the events of
the day. Prayer wil help us do our
work, bear our burdens, solve our
problems, and sweeten our pleasures.
In time of sorrow Jesus prayed.
In the garedn He prayed, “Not my
will but Thine be done.” In death
He committed His spirit to God and
prayed for His enemies. The minis
try of Jesus began and ended with
prayer.
“O Thou, by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer, Thyself hast
trod;
Lord, teach us how to pray.”
STENOGRAPHERS NEEDED.
Do you have stenographic or typing
ability that is not being fully utiliz
ed? Or have you had experience as
a stenographer or typist? Federal
agencies in Washington need your ser
vices. Positions at $1620 a year,
plus overtime, are open for those who
pass the examination and have two
years of stenographic experience.
Other positions are open at $1440 a
year, plus overtime, for those who can
pass the examination—no experience
requi-ed. All information regarding
where and when you can take the
examination can be obtained from
the nearest first or second class post
office. If you are doing war work
of equal skill, do not apply.
For further information consult
Miss Sadie Bowers, Secretary of U.
S. Civil Service Commission, at the
local postoffice.
Aid to Enemy
“Any American who wilfully
neglects to pay his taxes on
time or to invest every cent he
can in War Bonds is surely giv
ing aid and comfort to the
enemy . . . We have a job to
do and we are all called for
service to our country. Our
dollars are called to service
too. Let us all ask ourselves,
‘Shall we be more tender with
our dollars than with the lives
of our sons?’ ” — Secretary
Morgenthau.
Delinquent
Tax Notice
The goal of the Second War
Loan drive is 13 billion dol-
jpB lars. That is just about one
fifth of the estimated increase
of the Public Debt for the fis
cal year of 1943.
Please take notice that we are now levying on all
unpaid delinquent taxes. Please call and pay
your taxes by May 1st in order to save the cost
of levying, advertising, etc.
This is positively the last notice!
Claude W. Sanders
Tax Collector
The 2nd War Loan drive is on!
Hie conunand has come-
“ ATTACK! ”
If we should lose the war, life would not be
worth living.
"But we won’t lose it,” you may say.
Listen, brother—in this world nothing’s
sure, unless you make it so.
This month it’s up to us here at home to
do our part, and then some, to make Victory
surer—and quicker! To do it, we’ve got to
lend Uncle Sam 1 3 billion extra dollars.
It isn’t easy—but war isn’t easy and Vic
tory isn’t cheap. It takes money—and more
money—to buy planes, ships, tanks, guns
and a million other things our boys must
have to deliver that final, paralyzing knock
out punch.
And it’s a whale of a lot easier for us at
home to lend our money than for our boys
to fight through the hardships and dangers
of deserts, swamps, jungles, ice-fielrs and
sub-infested seas!
Just think! Every extra bond you buy will
help provide the weapons to save the lives
of many American boys! Isn't that alone
worth every effort, every economy you can
make? You bet it is!
There are 7 types of U. S. Government
securities to meet the needs of every purse.
They offer the finest investment in the world
—liberal interest, plus securities guaranteed
by Uncle Sam himself.
A volunteer worker for the 2nd War Loan
Drive may visit you soon. Welcome this
unselfish patriot—and buy all the bonds you
can. But don’t wait for that call. Go—to
day to your bank, investment leader, brok
er, post office or bond booth and invest to
your uttermost limit. Even if it hurts, it’s
nothing compared to the agonizing impact of
a bayonet thrust, a flesh-tearing torpedo frag
ment or a bone crushing bullet.
So dig deep, brother, and do itNOW!
They GIVE Their Lives
You LEND Your MONEY
Farmers Ice & Fuel Co.
PHONE 155
NEWBERRY