Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-07-23
God Will Hear
(WNU Feature-Through special arrangement
with The American Magazine.)
BY William C. Taggart

| Gill Oil oil 1OlCe CIldpldii. Va
more than year I have lived with
men whose daily job is to risk their
lives in combat with the enemy.
have seen these men 60 off on
missions never to return. I have
watched them during bombing at
lacks against our base. I know
what they think and feel. know
how they pray.
One of our Flying Fortresses was
to Australia. The crew of nine was
given up for lost. Weeks later, nine
bearded, disheveled men struggled
into camp, and had the story Of
their rescue from Maj. Allen Lind
berg of Westfeld, N. j., pilot of the
plane.
at was before dawn when we
crashed" Lindberg told me. eve
just had time to shove off on two
rubber RATS, without a crumb Of
food or drop of water"
"A grim outlook" I suggested.
Grim enough. The boys were
pretty worried-all except Herman
DEE. Right away that lad from Dali
las started praying, and pretty soon
he Startled us by announcing that
help was on the way. He didn't
know how or when, but something
told him that we should be saved.
"Id only been praying few min
utes when felt like God had heard
me and was taking a hand to help
us out. From then on, no matter
how bad things got, was sure we
would come through"
The major continued: you've no
idea what hell is like until you have
been crowded with four other men
on rubber bubble built for three,
and left to drift beneath a broiling
sun. Toward evening we thought
we saw the peaks of mountains to
the west. When they dissolved into
mist, Hernandez just prayed harder.
He got the rest of us to pray and
sing with him. We sang Rock of
Ages and Lead Kindly Light
1.-THE second day our lips were
too cracked and our tongues too
swollen for much hymn singing. But
the prayers never stopped.
Natives Rescued Us.
"Then something happened. We
felt current reach US and hurry
us along. Before nightfall we saw
the silhouette of palm trees, the
white streak of surf, and-almost
beyond belief-the black hulls of
three out-rigger canoes.
"Our rescuers were Australian
aborigineS - lack-skinned, kinky-
headed fishermen from the main
land several hundred miles away.
They told us that, the day before,
they had been homeward bound with
their catch, when a strange urge
came over them. Something i'm
PEELED them to change their course,
and steer for this uninhabited and
worthless bit of coral"
Yes, prayer does work. There
have been other incidents. Lieut..
Frank Beeson of Tuscaloosa, Ala,
lay in our base hospital, gaping
shell wound in his shoulder. A pur-
suit pilot, he had been shot down at
Port Moresby. The doctors verdict
was: Hell never fly again."
"Oh, yes I WILL" Frank told me.
How do you knoW?'
Il asked the Lord to give me
strength to rejoin my squadron" A
few weeks later, after an incredibly
short recovery, Frank was on his
way back to Port Moresby and more
dogfghts with the Japs.
know of men lost and starving in
the deserts of Australia, who were
found and brought to safety after
asking God for help. Of men in
bombers shot to pieces by enemy
gunfire who, quite literally, prayed
their way back to base. l know.
too, that many times appeals uttered
by mothers, wives and sweethearts
in the United States stretched a pro-
tective mantle half around the globe
to shield us in the South Pacific.
Power of Prayer.
One high-ranking general told me
that he owes his life, in part, to the
petitions voiced by his closest friend
and former business partner. I my
self am living on borrowed time be-
cause my parents prayed for me in
situation of great danger.
AS a parsons son, brought up in
devout Southwest community,
have always believed in the pow
er of prayer. I cannot recall time
when it was not an integral part of
my daily life.
One of my professors at college
was a missionary in China. Cap
tured by bandits, he and his fellow
prisoners were taken to a lonely
mountain pass. When no ransom
was forthcoming, the bandits deter
mined to shoot them the next day,
That night he prayed fervently for
guidance, and before dawn thick
cloud settled on the pass. Wrapped
in this cloud of invisibility, he led
his party down the mountainside to
safety.
Millions of Americans who in the
past relied on themselves are nov
reaching out for help.