Evening star., 1945-01-07
81 Men Baptized at Rite Held
For One GI in Belgian Village
Herndon Pastors
Letter Tells of Service
Near SheIIed Building

| Cndplaun henry h. Bear, tOrmef
pastor at Herndon, Va, and his reg
iment halted in Belgian village
following the heavy fighting in
France-to baptize 81 battle-weary
soldiers.
The concern of a sister, who often
wrote her brother urging him to be
baptized, led to the unusual cere-
mony, according to the General
Commission on Army and Navy
Chaplains. When the lone candi-
date presented himself to Chaplain
, Bear for baptism, the Virginia pas
tor was amazed to see him followed
by a score Of other doughboys. The
sacrament was administered in a
natural grove, near a War-scarred
building.
While in Belgium a time was
set" Chaplain Bear wrote the COM
mission. I'VE would hold the serv-
ice the following Sunday if the con-
ditlons of combat would warrant it.
Friday found us on our way south
through Cambria and Reims. We
Travelled Friday night and all day
Saturday. Men of our long moving
convoy strained sleepy eyes into the
darkness of a second night. Sunday
daylight revealed the convoy like
an earthWorm stretching itself out
and pulling itself together again
through the dusty, cobweblike fog.
By 8 o'clock Sunday morning the
companies were in their respective
areas. Men soon lay about the truck
. and jeep fast asleep like bags of po-
toes that had been tossed over the
sides.
How could these road-weary men
be aroused to attend a service, let
alone to give any serious thought
to being baptized? 1t was with not
too much expectation that services
were scheduled for the afternoon, so
that earlier in the day the men
might secure as much rest as pos
sible. Accompanying the regular
church announcement went the re-
minder that the last held service
baptism would be administered.
1lIt - CNLI ~ oSo olOptu SBIAlN
away from a bleak crumbling stone
building with iron bannisters pro-
tecting the steps and porch which
spoke of better days. The lawn
curved into a stately spruce grove
The graceful nodding boughs formed
a perfect backdrop for a pulpit
Here in grove, one of Gods first
temples, we turned our backs to
the war-scarred building, a symbol
of pain and death, and faced the
house of God. The high domed
ceiling lifted our thoughts far be-
yond the inky blue. The velvety
carpet of grass spoke more than
just ease to weary bodies. The
expansive walls of natures church
seemed to embrace and invite every
soul to worship with us and us
with them.
There in the stiffness of the clos
ing day we calmly explored the
rich truths in the sacrament of
baptism Terms like sacrifice and
poured out blood took on new
meaning to us who had borne some
burdens which connoted for others.
There were fresh memories of ab-
sent comrades whose blood had been
poured out for something, which
vaguely we hoped would be sacri-
flee for something, more precious
than life itself.
Taking up the visible element in
baptism-Water, it wasn't hard for
us to see the aptness of the symbol
How many times our bodies cried
out for water to wash away the mud
and CRIME Of the days. knowing
our environment, with the tender
restraints of home removed, we
knew how much in need we were of
the Spirit to wash and make our
hearts clean.
The words of the sacrament took