Comment: A U.S. Army division is composed of three battalions plus other weapon and support units. I was assigned to AT (Anti-Tank) Company of the 103rd Infantry Division referred to above. As a rule, we had to be at the very front of the front to destroy enemy tanks before they could assault and mow down our troops. Our company entered combat at approximately the same time and place as depicted above. It was icy, freeeeeezing cold!
Memories of this come back to me unsolicited, for any or no reason at all. The most deadly, dangerous, hazardous, scary, life-and-limb-threatening experiences one has had tend to do this.
Courage is your legs moving foward when your brain and all seven senses are screaming STOP! HOLD ON! GO BACK! "Courage," of course, is derived from Latin cor, reflected in all of the Romanic Languages' terms for heart (cœur, cuore, corazón, cor, coração). It is your heart that impels you forward when all your other internal organs are screaming HALT!
Meditating on this, the words presented below came upon me:
Oh, be thou strong and be of a good courage;*
be not afraid, whate'er thy lot today;
be not dismayed, sustained by the sure knowledge
that the Lord thy God will guide thee on thy way.
He thee will support, uphold, sustain, acknowledge,
whithersoever in this wide world of His thou may stray,
in whatever paths life unto thee may give an edge,
stand ramrod straight, strong, steady, upright, righteous, day by day.
Descry what is right with clarity from what is wrong,
the conduct of others when sadly gone awry decry.
Thine own behavior, for only what is right to long,
Ever prepared to meet thy Maker, death so nigh.
Be strong and of a good courage, for the Lord thy
God forever is with thee, no matter what may ensue—
whithersoever thou goest, wherever on earth may lie
life's adventurous, adventitious paths, awaiting you.
|:Extend thy staff in peace and good will others to guide
and rescue, setting safe limits and boundaries
along the way for all who their safety in you confide,
assured that with your guidance nothing will God displease.
*Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. —Joshua 1:9
Wendell H. Hall
U.S. Army Serial Number 1915xxxx, Sir!
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