Veteran's Day

These are dark days for military recruiting.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force have tried almost everything in their power to bring in new people. They’ve relaxed enlistment standards, set up remedial schools for recruits who can’t pass entry tests, and offered signing bonuses worth up to $75,000. Still, in 2023 the three services together fell short by more than 25,000 recruits.

Military leaders say there are so few Americans who are willing and able to serve, and so many civilian employers competing for them, that getting enough people into uniform is nearly impossible.

Tell that to the Marines. The Marine Corps ended the recruiting year on September 30th having met 100 percent of its goal, with hundreds of contracts already signed for the next year. The corps did it while keeping enlistment standards tight and offering next to no perks.

When asked earlier this year about whether the Marines would offer extra money to attract recruits, the commandant of the Marine Corps replied: “Your bonus is that you get to call yourself a Marine. That’s your bonus.”

In a nutshell, that is the Marine Corps’ marketing strategy: Dismiss financial incentives as chump change compared with the honor of joining the Corps. Brush off the idea of military service as a steppingstone to civilian career opportunities. Instead, dangle the promise of the chance to be part of something intangible, timeless, and elite.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Christians aren’t called to elitism, but we are called to a life of adventure and challenge.

Though he played a vital role in the U.S. victory over Japan in World War II, Navy Capt. Joseph Rochefort and his heroics long went unrecognized. Rochefort, who died in 1976, was a mid-level intelligence officer whose small unit in Hawaii provided the analysis that led to the U.S. naval victory in the Battle of Midway—the turning point of the Pacific war.

In 1929 the Navy sent three young officers, including Rochefort, to Japan to spend three years becoming fluent in the Japanese language and culture. Then in 1941 Rochefort was sent to Station Hypo at Pearl Harbor to lead a team of code-breakers. By May 1942, Rochefort believed he had sufficient evidence from intercepted Japanese radio traffic to convince Adm. Chester Nimitz that two Japanese fleets of carriers and battleships were at sea on their way to attack Midway Island. Top Navy officers didn’t accept Rochefort’s judgment.

Rochefort and his team came up with a ploy to persuade their superiors: The U.S. base at Midway would send out a message to Navy-supply services that the Midway desalination system was failing and there was a dearth of drinking water on the island. The Japanese took the bait and immediately provided desalting materials to their landing forces, thus confirming that Midway was a target for invasion.

Rochefort was vindicated. Rochefort served the rest of his career with honor, without being awarded the Distinguished Service Medal he was clearly due. That was corrected by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, when Rochefort—44 years after Midway—was posthumously given the award.

Possible Preaching Angle:

There are also many believers who faithfully serve the Lord without human recognition or applause. They will be remembered by the Lord on the day when works are judged and will be given their great reward by the One who sees all who faithfully and quietly serve him.

In June 2022, 97-year-old William Kellerman finally got the medal the army failed to give him 80 years earlier. Mr. Kellerman was 18 years old when he was drafted late in 1943. On June 6, 1944, he and thousands of other soldiers huddled on war ships as the first wave of Allied troops launched themselves into the shores of Normandy. Five days later, it was his turn to dodge German fire while running up Utah Beach.

German troops captured Kellerman. They moved him to a building that held about 80 prisoners of war. One night, Kellerman escaped. After a French family gave him new clothes, he walked and biked nearly 600 miles, picking up food where he could from French farmers, Army records show. Back home, his mother and sister feared the worst. They had received a hand-delivered letter from the U.S. Army telling them he was listed as missing as of July 22, 1944.

But instead of sending him home, his captain put him back into combat. He was part of the force that took Chames, France, and in April 1945 was hit by sniper fire in the hand and the leg. Mr. Kellerman was being treated for his wounds in an Army hospital when the war officially ended. He served until 1946, the Army said.

But despite all his incredible adventures, Kellerman never got recognized by the army—until recently. In June 2022 he received the Prisoner of War Medal and the Purple Heart long denied him. An Army spokesman said, “The Army is conducting this ceremony now to correct this unfortunate oversight.”

For Mr. Kellerman, the late-in-life recognition is an unexpected gift. “I feel like I’m coming out of the shadows and into the sunlight,” he said.

Possible Preaching Angles:

Justice; Hope; Heaven; Reward —Sometimes our good deeds are not recognized for a long time, or even in this life, but God will reward our faithfulness.

Navy Seal Admiral, William McRaven, talks about an important lesson Seals learn: Think first of others. In an interview with AARP, he said:

I like to tell the story of Sgt. Maj. Chris Faris, my right-hand man in Afghanistan. One day, I did a Zoom call with my doctor, and she told me I’d been diagnosed with cancer. I needed to go back to the States immediately to have my spleen removed and start chemotherapy. She added, “Your military career is probably over.”

When I got back to my office, Chris was there, and he noticed something wasn’t right. After I told him, he said, “OK, boss, we’ve got the morning briefing coming up, and you need to be there. The troops are counting on you.”

So, we did the video teleconference with thousands of our team members around the world. And before I could say anything, Chris asked someone to put up a list of the people who’d been injured in combat the night before. Then he gave me a look, and I knew what it meant. I had a problem, but it paled in comparison to what these young men and women were going through. That was exactly the right thing to tell me at the time. It helped put my minor problem in perspective.

A small glimpse into what our heroic war veterans went through can be found in the seven-part Ken Burns documentary The War. It covers World War II from the perspective of the soldiers.

In the episode "When Things Get Tough," the narrator quotes Pulitzer Prize winning Bill Maulden, a cartoonist and writer for Stars & Stripes. It is an analogy written for those who have never fought in a war on the miseries and hardships of the American soldier, in this case with scenes from the Italian Campaign:

Dig a hole in your backyard while it is raining. Sit in the hole while the water climbs up around your ankles. Pour cold mud down your shirt collar. Sit there for 48 hours. So there is no danger of your dozing off, imagine that a guy is sneaking around waiting for a chance to club you on the head. Or set your house on fire.

Get out of the hole, fill a suitcase full of rocks, pick it up, put a shotgun in your other hand, and walk on the muddiest road you can find. Fall flat on your face every few minutes, as you imagine big meteors streaking down beside you. If you repeat this performance every three days, for several months, you may begin to understand why an infantryman gets out of breath. But you still won't understand how he feels when things get tough.

During World War II, a US Army Transport Ship carrying 902 servicemen was struck by a German submarine. Panic and chaos quickly set in as men raced for lifeboats in the frigid waters off the coast of Greenland.

In the midst of pandemonium, four Army chaplains worked to calm the frightened men. One was a Jewish Rabbi, one was a Methodist, one was a Roman Catholic priest, and one was a Dutch Reformed minister.

On the deck of the ship, they worked to distribute life vests to soldiers escaping into the frigid waters. When they ran out, each minister simultaneously removed their jacket and gave them to the soldiers. They didn't call out for soldiers who were in their particular tradition. They simply gave their jackets to the next men in line. One survivor would later say, "It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven."

As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains--arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could also be heard offering prayers and singing hymns. Of the 902 men aboard, only 230 survived. Congress later conferred a posthumous Medal for Heroism, The Four Chaplains' Medal, upon the four chaplains.

Before boarding the Dorchester, the Dutch Reformed minister, Chaplain Poling asked his father to pray for him, "Not for my safe return, that wouldn't be fair. Just pray that I shall do my duty … never be a coward … and have the strength, courage and understanding of men. Just pray that I shall be adequate."

At a United Nations gathering, delegates from both Ukraine and Russia disagreed fiercely on how the meeting should proceed. But the gathering was not simply about how or when the war should end, but how it should be fought.

Specifically, global delegates were in attendance to work on a treaty regarding Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems. More than smart guns or unmanned aerial vehicles, such systems are complex algorithms that use artificial intelligence to identify, select and kill human targets without specific human intervention. The Kargu-2 flying quad-copter is such a weapon, made by Turkish firm STM. Industry analysts believe that similar systems are already in development in China, Russia, and the US.

Proponents of such systems say that they are essential in reducing the body count of conventional warfare, but detractors say that the systems are error-prone, and the efficiency of its operational protocol has the potential for disastrous outcomes. Many antiwar demonstrators call them “killer robots” or “slaughterbots.” The U.N. requires a convention on Certain Conventional Weapons every five years or so to govern the technology of war, but analysts say that the pace of innovation is outracing the body’s ability to keep such technology in check.

Daan Kayser leads the autonomous weapons project for a Dutch group called Pax for Peace. He said, “I believe it’s just a matter of policy at this point, not technology. Any one of a number of countries could have computers killing without a single human anywhere near it. And that should frighten everyone.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Technology is constantly being used to enhance the ability of armies to kill and maim one another and innocent civilians. We desperately need to pray for the coming of the kingdom of the Prince of Peace who will cause weapons of war to be molded into farming implements (Isa. 2:4, Isa. 9:6-7).

99-year-old Osceola "Ozzie" Fletcher finally received his Purple Heart. It was awarded in a ceremony at the Fort Hamilton Army base in June of 2021 for wounds he suffered in the Battle of Normandy in 1944. Army officials said that Fletcher was “overlooked” for the medal previously because of racial inequalities. Fletcher said that he was “exhilarated,” when he received the award.

The allied invasion of Normandy, France, also known as D-Day, began on June 6, 1944 and lasted until August. The operation led to the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe, and marked the beginning of the end of the European theater in World War II.

According to The New York Post, Fletcher was a 22-year-old private with the 254th Port Battalion during the military operation. He was working as a crane operator when he was hit by a German missile that left him with leg injuries and a head gash, causing a permanent scar.

Gen. James McConville said during the ceremony, “He has spent his entire life giving to those around him whether they were brothers in arms, families, or his community. Well, today it’s Ozzie’s turn to receive.”

The Army conducted a fact-finding mission regarding Fletcher’s overlooked medal and found that he deserved the award after his daughter, Jacqueline Streets, contacted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Streets said,

My father has a gash in his head that we can still see. And obviously he was doing the job of an American soldier. I do believe he was overlooked. We’re finally looking at all of our soldiers in the same way, America is trying to shift its thinking about culture and about race and I appreciate that. I think we’re acknowledging things that happened in the past and trying to correct them moving forward.

Possible Preaching Angle:

1) Race; Race Relations – Every person who serves their country deserves to be honored, regardless of race or ethnicity (Acts 10:34-35, Rom. 10:12); 2) Reward; Service, reward for - God will never overlook any Christian for the service they have offered to him (Heb. 6:10).

In his book Becoming a King, consultant Morgan Snyder writes about meeting a decorated U.S. special forces warrior who was a master on the battlefield but who struggled at home. The soldier said, “I can handle any firefight and a 300-hundred-man ambush, no problem. My role and objectives in war are clear. It is my life at home I can’t handle—my marriage, my kids, my mortgage. I’m failing. I feel like I live in Afghanistan, and I’m deployed to my home in Texas.”

Morgan Snyder comments: “Nothing to expose more of the unfinished places in us than our marriage and parenting. Marriage and home life are the most difficult relationships in which to love well, because they are the only place in which it is least possible to hide.”

Physically, this Bible isn’t much to look at. It’s about five inches long and three inches wide. It has a black leather cover, now well-worn and torn at the edges, with the pages at risk of falling out. Jesse Maple first carried the Bible with him (into battle) because he saw Scripture as a good luck charm. But soon enough, Maple saw it as evidence that God loved him and was with him in the jungles of Vietnam.

Maple said, “You wouldn’t believe what that Bible has been through.” He was drafted into the Army at 19. He was living a wild and backslidden life at the time. But then a man with Gideons International gave him the Bible. His mother taught him to respect Scripture, so he stuck it in his pocket and kept it there. He carried it through his tour in Vietnam.

It was still with him during one intense firefight when bullets ripped through the pack on his back. They pierced a can of fruit but left him unharmed. Afterward, Maple was standing there, juice leaking on the ground, when a passing Catholic priest told him, “The Lord was with you today.” Maple immediately thought of the little Bible in his pocket.

Maple found that personal faith, carrying and reading the Gideons Bible in Vietnam. He says, “I give God all the credit for bringing me home. I had so many close calls.”

When he came back home and learned his brother Bill, also in the Army, was being transferred to fight in Vietnam, he decided to give him the Bible. While Bill didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus until years later, he did feel an immediate connection to that Bible. He said, “It was just like a security blanket for a baby. It felt like you had on extra armor.”

Before he left Vietnam, he gave that Bible to his close friend Roger Hill. Hill wrapped the Bible in plastic to protect it from the monsoon rains, and he still had it with him when he was severely wounded during his final tour.

In all, seven US soldiers have carried that same small book since 1967. By 2019, they had brought it with them through 11 combat tours in five countries. For each of the men, the Bible was a source of comfort, an assurance of protection, and the promise of a fuller relationship with God. They carried the Scripture to keep them safe, but they found a deeper security inside its pages.

Ultimately the small worn Bible was returned to Jesse and his brother Bill, who were the first two who carried it into combat. Bill can’t read the Bible anymore because he’s gone blind. He has an electronic device that reads books to him, though, and his favorite is still the Bible. He said, “I lay in bed when I first wake up in the morning. I turn my Bible on, and I listen.”

John Mahshie said he felt “alone and isolated” after leaving the Air Force in 2008, yet “sucked it up and pressed on.” He knew other veterans were struggling with their own issues but might not know how to reach out for help. So, in 2013 he decided to plant fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, and flowers on nine acres of land he owned in Hendersonville, North Carolina. With that, the Veterans Healing Farm was born.

There are bunkhouses on the property for vets to stay in. Since some of the vets have been struggling with unemployment, depression, or homelessness, they can gather together amid the woodpeckers and the bees and "continue their military mission of service before self.”

Mahshie says,

In civilian life, relationships form and evolve at a different pace. Veterans feel the difference when they get out of the service. Here, veterans learn that they can trust other people and that they are valued. The acts of growing and harvesting help them form friendships with people who share the same mission. It's so gratifying to see these relationships form.

The SEALs, arguably one of the most elite fighting groups in the world, did not develop from a grand strategy of the military. But instead from one individual who refused to allow his condition to keep him from moving ahead. His name was Draper Kauffman, and today he is known as the godfather of the US Navy SEALs.

Upon his graduation from the Naval academy in 1933, Mr. Kauffman's plan was to follow in the footsteps of another great man, his father, who also served in the US Navy. But it wasn't to be. It was not because of drug abuse that Mr. Kauffman's dreams were shattered, nor was it because of a life of crime. He simply had poor eyesight and this was enough to prevent him from receiving his commission. What do you do when you invest years of dreaming about a bright future and making plans to get there, only to find it sabotaged by something that seems so small? This is where Mr. Kauffman can inspire us all.

With his door to the US Navy closed, he joined the American Volunteer Ambulance Corps in France. This warrior trained to lead other warriors into combat found himself behind the wheel of an ambulance. He was imprisoned for a short time in France when the Germans occupied the country in 1940. After his release, he joined the Royal Navy Reserve in England and served in their bomb disposal unit.

While he was home on leave, the US Navy wanted to learn from his experiences. At their request Mr. Kauffman organized an underwater demolition school. After the United States entered the war, Kauffman's experience and trainees became crucial to US amphibious operations around the world. They changed the course of the war through disarming underwater bombs and conducting top-secret reconnaissance. Had Mr. Kauffman allowed poor eyesight to be the final draft of his identity, the Allies' strategy during WWII would have been different.

All summer long four-hear-old Dylan Stitch was afraid to dive off the diving board. Dylan's mom, Marla said, “He had no interest in it, ever. We were just saying, 'Hey, you want to give it a shot? You want to give it a try?’”

Enter 95-year-old Daniel Biss, who was in the Air Force during World War II and the Korean War. He knows a thing or two about fear and bravery. So, when he saw a neighbor kid at a family pool party, and heard everyone trying to coax him off the board, he knew exactly what Dylan needed.

Daniel said, “Just needed some convincing, I guess. I was going to try." So, Daniel borrowed a swimsuit, and with cane in hand stepped up to set the example. The great-grandfather hadn't been on a diving board in 50 years. Yet he stood up on one, ready to teach a lesson in courage, which nearly turned into a lesson in first aid.

Marla said, “Everyone kind of held their breath and got real nervous like, ‘Oh, was this a bad idea?’” Daniel said, “I was up there that far, I figured I may as well go through with it.” So, at the age of 95, he dove for Dylan.

It wasn't the prettiest dive, but he couldn't have done better--because shortly after Daniel took his last jump off a diving board, Dylan took his first. Marla said, “It was really neat that that inspired him to do it. It was a neat moment." Today Dylan jumps with no problem. Hopefully his courage will now inspire you, with whatever leap you need to make.

During the War of 1812, General Andrew Jackson marched more than two thousand Tennessee volunteers from Nashville to New Orleans. With bravado they fought the decisive Battle of New Orleans. The fighting took its toll on Jackson's troops, but sickness proved to be the deadliest and most dangerous enemy. One hundred fifty soldiers became gravely ill, fifty-six of whom could not even stand.

Dr. Samuel Hogg asked the general what he wanted him to do. "To do, sir?" Jackson answered. "You are to leave not a man on the ground." It wasn't official code of conduct yet, but Jackson embodied the military motto "Leave no man behind."

Andrew Jackson ordered his officers to give up their horses to those who were sick, and the general was the first to do so. Jackson marched 531 miles on foot. Somewhere between New Orleans and Nashville, he earned the nickname "Old Hickory," the same name under which he would campaign for president fifteen years later.

Before winning the White House, the seventh president of the United States is alleged to have fought as many as thirteen duels, which explains the thirty-seven pistols in his gun collection. I'm not advocating the reintroduction of dueling, but it does reveal something about Jackson's character-Old Hickory wasn't one to shrink from a fight, especially when honor was at stake!

Jackson said, “I was born for the storm. And the calm does not suit me.” When the sea is calm, anyone can captain the ship in that situation. But when a perfect storm threatens to capsize your marriage or drown your dreams, you must play the man. A true man doesn't sit back. He steps up and steps in. He fights the good fight, even when it seems like all is lost. Why? Because a true man is born for the storm.

Alfred Mendes enlisted in the British Army in January 1916 at the tender age of 19. He was soon sent off to France to train to be a signaller. Signallers were responsible for signaling communications from the front lines back to the command position and vice-versa. Often, it involved laying landlines down in dangerous enemy territory.

On October 12, 1917, Alfred faced his most daunting test yet. Hundreds of British soldiers had been charged with reclaiming the village of Poelcappelle in Belgium from the Germans. It was an important location from a strategic standpoint and Allied forces resolved to have it back under their command. The British troops attacked on a day that poured down rain, suffering heavy losses. One hundred fifty-eight men in Alfred’s battalion of 484 were killed, wounded, or MIA. No one could locate the missing men as they were scattered across miles of sucking, waterlogged foxholes and craters in the mud. Stuck in the middle of No Man’s Land, they were unable to communicate their positions back to their allies in the safe zone without being killed.

When Alfred Mendes’ commanding officer asked for a volunteer to do the almost certainly fatal job of running out to locate the positions of the surviving men and then reporting back to the troops – Alfred volunteered for the job.

Miraculously, he survived and . . . located a number of survivors, enabling them to be rescued. It was an act that later won Alfred the Military Medal for bravery. His actions became the inspiration for the film 1917. In an interview, writer and director Sam Mendes explains the source of the film: “I had a story that was a fragment told to me by my grandfather, who fought in the First World War. It’s the story of a messenger who has a message to carry."

Possible Preaching Angles:

Evangelism; Great Commission; Preaching – Our Commanding Officer has called believers to carry the greatest message ever given. At times it involves risk and danger, but it leads to the saving of many lives in the deadliest battle in history.

There is no shortage of people today who would like to be used to do something important, something meaningful. But most of us aren’t really sure where to start. Maybe a few words of wisdom from someone who has become known for heroism can help us find a starting point.

He pulled a person from a flaming vehicle in South Korea. He served on President Trump’s security detail during the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He also played a pivotal role in the rescue of junior Thai soccer players trapped in a cave, during which he saved the life of a Thai Navy SEAL. In recognition of those acts, US Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kenneth O’Brien was named one of a dozen outstanding airmen of the year. But the Japan-based airman’s impressive résumé didn’t end there.

On a flight back to the United States to receive the award, O’Brien noticed a 1-year-old choking. He immediately sprang into action, clearing the child’s breathing passage and performing CPR. He said, “I’m thankful that the child is okay and that I was able to help when the family needed support. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

But O’Brien seems to be at the right place at the right time a lot lately. But maybe the uncanny number of heroic opportunities has nothing to do with luck. In an interview, O’Brien had this to say:

If someone needs to go do something dangerous, I volunteer. If someone needs a leader, I volunteer. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and that’s what helped me stand out because I sought out key positions or responsibilities.

He happens to be in the right place at the right time because he put himself in situations where he could be used. He volunteered and found himself being used.

In his classic history of the Civil War, author Shelby Foote relates the story of Commodore Andrew H. Foote who partnered with Ulysses S. Grant to capture Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. Commodore Foote commanded a fleet of ironclads and other vessels that supported Grant in his assault.

According to Shelby Foote:

Commodore Andrew H. Foote was a Connecticut Yankee, a small man with burning eyes … He was deeply … religious, and conducted a Bible school for his crew every Sunday, afloat or ashore. Twenty years before, he had had the first temperance ship in the U.S. Navy … At fifty-six he had spent forty years as a career officer fighting the two things he hated most, slavery and whiskey ...

When Grant ordered Foote to attack Fort Donelson:

Foote would have preferred to wait until he had had time to make a personal reconnaissance. But Grant’s request was for an immediate attack and the commodore prepared to give it to him. He had done considerable waiting already, a whole week of it while the armorers were hammering his ironclads back into shape. All this time he had kept busy, supervising the work ... Nor were spiritual matters neglected. The day before the attack he attended church at Cairo. When he was told that the parson was indisposed, Foote mounted to the pulpit and preached the sermon himself. “Let not your heart be troubled,” was his text: “ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Next day, having thus admonished and fortified his crews, he sent one ironclad up the Cumberland to attack Fort Donelson.

Possible Preaching Angles: In the same way, we often need to preach the gospel, the good news of God’s promises, to ourselves first.

PBS’ “The Great American Read” is an eight-part series that explores America’s 100 best-loved novels. This episode highlights books that feature heroic characters and explores why we love them. Books such as 1984, Charlotte’s Web, Don Quixote, The Hunger Games, and The Invisible Man are examined. Literary experts, authors and everyday book lovers discuss why our favorite heroes are complex and relatable, from the everyday hero to the tragic and unlikely or anti-hero:

-“A hero is who we all wish we were if we didn’t have our own personal limitations.”

-“I think when we hear heroes or see them or read about them, we think about qualities we wish we had. Courage, strength, fortitude, bravery.”

-“Reading about everyday heroes gives us hope and lets you know that you’re not alone in the good fight.”

-“I think we aspire to everyday heroes because we wish to be them… In moments of great tragedy we see people drawn to firefighters or emergency workers or the people who went beyond their job. They rushed in where angels fear to tread.”

-“The hero lifts us. It redeems what we try to do. The hero provides us an archetype that gives us a direction. ‘Let’s go this way. And we’ll be okay.’”

-“We’d like to believe there’s like a hero gene in all of us.”

Possible Preaching Angles: Scripture highlights the stories of ordinary men and women who became heroes as they trusted in God. In reading their stories we are encouraged to identify with them and to be bold for God.

When the South African country of Mozambique was decolonized, a civil war broke out that lasted 15 years until 1992. Over a million people were abused and murdered in horrible ways. An Anglican pastor named Dinis Sengulane spearheaded an effort among churches that helped lay the foundation for a 1992 peace-treaty. But they didn’t stop there because there were still more than seven million guns hidden all over Mozambique that could lead to another civil war.

To prevent further violence the government of Mozambique initiated several disarmament projects aimed at weeding out the hidden weapons. One of these initiatives was the Christian-backed “Tools for Arms” project, otherwise known as “Swords into Plowshares.” The project got its name from Isaiah 2:4, which predicts a time of peace when warring nations will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks,” and they will not “learn war anymore.”

In order to draw out the weapons from the bush, people were given an instrument of agriculture in exchange for every weapon turned in. A shovel for a rifle, a plow for a machine gun. One village turned in a whole cache of weapons and received a tractor in return.

They then took many of these weapons used for war and bloodshed and turned them into beautiful pieces of art designed for peace. Their most important art piece from this project is called the “Tree of Life.” It’s 11.5 feet tall, weighs half a ton, and is made from guns welded together. It celebrates the peace this movement has helped create. To date over 600,000 weapons were turned in as part of this program led by Christian churches.

During World War II General Douglas MacArthur wanted an island airfield from which to launch his forces and so he invaded the Indonesian island of Biak. Six months after they secured the island, in June 1944, a chaplain named Leon Maltby arrived on the island to minister to the troops. He had a 20x60 canvas structure to serve as his chapel but nothing in it except for a floor made out of packed coral and a roof made from a yellow parachute. So with the help of some carpenters he built pews, a platform, and an altar.

He wanted to serve communion but had nothing to serve it with. He found some unused 50 caliber bullets. He used new shells because he didn’t want to use any that had been used to kill. He pulled out the lead, gunpowder, and firing caps. He welded them, pressed them into the right shape, and shined them. Each took about two-hours to complete and he made enough for 80 communion cups which he used to serve his men.

In 1945 Chaplain Maltby sailed into Japan and was actually the first Protestant chaplain to enter Japan. He became good friends with a local Japanese pastor and used that same communion set to serve the Lord’s Supper with him, which moved the Japanese pastor deeply. The set is now on display at the Veterans Museum in Daytona Beach where a sign reads, “The pastor clearly understood the significance of ‘Instruments of death becoming a symbol of eternal life.’”