Heroes

The history of our world has been defined by its conflicts. From the earliest disputes of Cain and Abel to the military operations of the twenty-first century, humanity has never ceased to attack one another. Peacetime is simply a waiting period for the next battle; treaties and ceasefires are only delays in the violence.

The wars of the spiritual realm have been equally as long and as brutal as the physical wars. These battles have reached us from the earliest dawn of time, where they originated in the hearts of Adam and Eve. The struggle against temptation and rebellion is present in each of us, whether it is acknowledged or not. Few emerge victorious into a true peace, and even that peace is a watchful peace that can be shattered in a moment of wavering.

The following account is but a brief spark in this trying fire of strife.

The year was 1942, and all across the world there raged a war the likes of which had never been seen before. Destruction and carnage had become commonplace, none more so than in the Pacific theater. There, speckled amongst the vast blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean, its tropical islands hosted battles of unparalleled ferocity and savagery. Suicide charges, artillery annihilation, and arial bombardments made life for the common soldier a living nightmare. At any moment a banzai charge (a typically nocturnal all-out attack of massed infantry yelling at the top of their voices as they charged) might split the night air into a rush of charging enemies whipped into a killing frenzy. A wayward shell, some weighing as much as a small car, could fall from the sky with deadly results. Death was ever present, claiming lives seemingly at random.

Four thousand miles to the east, another battle was raging. This one was as deadly as the first, encompassing hundreds of young men in an all-out struggle for their spiritual survival. Instead of the physical fighting on the Oriental islands of the Far East, this battle would be fought in the hearts and minds of those involved in this battle. Instead of machine guns and grenades, they would be armed with the sharpest of two-edged swords (The Holy Scriptures), guided by a power (The Holy Spirit) greater than any naval fleet.

These young men were called to a term of service in the physical warfare that was raging. Two years earlier, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 had been passed before the United States entered the war. This Act required all men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five to register for the draft. Those selected were expected to serve a one-year term. Once war was declared, this term would be extended until the end of the fighting.

To these young men, this draft and the current war prompted their memories of stories of a similar war and a similar draft, scarcely a generation prior, that had called away their fathers to the training camps of the United States military. There, the older generation had been subjected to all manner of malicious maltreatment. At that time, it was expected that all able-bodied young men would not only be willing, but also eager, to serve their country in battle against the enemy. This prevailing sentiment had brought about a general anger and animosity towards the conscientious objectors of the First World War. Pressure was applied to make them join in the drills and decorum of the armed forces, and penalties of various kinds could be and were enforced against those that refused. So severe were the punishments that many suffered physically, and several were killed by the treatment they received.

In like manner to their fathers, these young men were being called to serve their earthly country by bearing arms. Draftees were to report to their local recruiting office, where they would be organized and shipped to one of several training camps around the country. There they were to be molded into soldiers, prepared to kill their fellow man, and then sent overseas for that purpose. Yet their faith decreed otherwise.

Fortunately, they were not the only ones who remembered the First World War. In the two and a half decades since that war, both Mennonites and various concerned individuals had been at work, ensuring that if the need arose, there would be an option that could satisfy the government’s requirements of service while not going against the principles and convictions of conscientious objectors. Thus were born various organizations and programs that afforded an exemption to military duty. Conscientious objectors were placed in various service roles through these programs. They served in hospitals, built roads and irrigation canals, and provided labor for conservation efforts. In this way they could fulfill the law without breaking the Law (see Mark 12:17).

Despite the bureaucratic acceptance of the conscientious objectors’ (COs) convictions, and their subsequent alternate service, public feeling often still ran hot against, not only the nonresistant Mennonites and Amish, but against any conscientious objectors. Individuals who refused to fight could expect that not only would they personally be brought under pressure, but that their families and friends would also be scrutinized. Some of their families were shunned or looked down on, with the local community boycotting their businesses. In some cases, local law enforcement would turn a blind eye to the mistreatment of non-resistant people within their jurisdiction. In extreme instances, patriotic fervor would boil over, resulting in mob violence, property damage, and in a few rare instances, direct attacks against the perceived slackers.

Although most of Europe and its allies had been embroiled in this war since Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September of 1939, the United States did not join in the initial dispute. While the German army stormed through Europe, the early years of the war in the Pacific were dominated by Japan, who had already invaded China as early as 1937. The United States remained neutral during this time, motivated by a general feeling of isolationism. This would all change on the morning of December 7, 1941, as the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the United States, attacking ships moored in Pearl Harbor, the home of the United States Pacific fleet. Retaliation was swift, and war was declared on Japan and its allies. Japan redoubled their offensive, sweeping over the island nations scattered across the Pacific. The Japanese commitment to the war was personal and intense. Honor, even in death, was esteemed higher than life. The emperor was worshiped as infallible, and Japanese soldiers hurled themselves into battle in his name, even in the face of overwhelming odds. Spurred by its fanaticism and an efficient, well-supplied attack force, Japan set its sights on the Philippines. There its army was met by a force vastly inferior to their own.

Meanwhile, at their various stations throughout the country, the COs were facing their own attack. They had been afforded the relief of not needing to fight a physical fight. With this exception came unforeseen opportunities for serving the suffering individuals under their care. Throughout their various ministries, they would encounter all manner of people. Each encounter was another opportunity to show a Christian’s peace and love in the midst of the on-going war, especially in the mental institutions and hospitals that employed some of the COs. The state of the mental hospitals at the time was deplorable. Patients were treated roughly, or simply neglected. Troublesome ones would be bound in strait jackets for weeks or forced to live in their own filth. Food and sanitation did not begin to meet the needs represented. Several of the young men brought attention to the situation of the mentally handicapped, through writing to newspapers or detailing their observations about the abuse to their contacts at home. These actions led to growing public awareness and concern about the treatment of the disabled, which would be the catalyst for change in the care of those unable to care for themselves.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to serve came at a cost. The COs were young and separated from their church and family. Ungodly influences abounded around them. Because they were separated from their churches and families, these influences weighed more heavily on the young men’s minds than they would have at home. The battle was still being waged, and now more than ever they had to lean on God as their strength, support, and defense.

In the Pacific, Japan moved in for an overpowering assault of the Philippines. The island nation had long been preparing its defenses, and now it would be tested by the impetus of the Japanese invaders. This defending army was a product of the training and leadership of General George A. MacArthur. MacArthur was somewhat of a prodigy of the United States military, emerging from his service in World War I as the youngest divisional commander in the Army. Since then, his time between the Wars had been spent largely in the Philippines, whose beaches and jungles he was now defending. In the months leading up to the invasion, he requested reinforcements, updated equipment, and sufficient materials to withstand an attack. Because the focus of the United States at the time was squarely focused on winning the war in Europe first, his requests were denied, and he was therefore out-manned and out-gunned. Nonetheless, MacArthur dug in and prepared to defend against the inevitable landings and subsequent inward crawl of the invaders. His troops suffered massive casualties in their slow retreat. Although defeat soon became apparent, the General refused to leave the island. Not until the time when the island was all but taken, was he finally persuaded to slip through enemy lines, evacuating to Batchelor Field, Australia. Here it was that he made a solemn promise to those he had left behind: “I shall return.”

The COs, now spread across numerous projects and fields of service, faced an equally diverse set of challenges. Instead of the steady guidance of their home congregations, they were now under the leadership of government appointed directors. Their camp schedules kept them at work, up to six days a week. Sundays were generally reserved for worship services. The influence of a world at war all around them had set in. Harry Litwiller, a Mennonite youth in Canada, was one of those who fell to the influences of the world. He was put into the army, where he quickly filed for CO status. While his request was being processed, he picked up gambling and drinking from other recruits. Word of his new habits soon made their way to his military superiors, and his request was denied. Churches prayed, wrote letters, and otherwise made efforts to support the young men in their trials. They could not know it, but their time of testing would soon be drawing to a close.

Finally, the year was 1945. The last months of the war had seen the conscription of young boys and old men into the German Army as Hitler made a last desperate stand, caught between the allied armies of the Eastern and Western fronts. Unable to continue, the Germans sued for peace. Now that the war was over in Europe, the tide of war shifted to the Pacific. America rallied, propelled by its greater industrial capacity and natural resources, causing the Japanese advance to grind to a halt—thus, the American counter-offensive began. Slowly, island-hopping across the ocean, General MacArthur drew ever closer to Japan.

MacArthur had not forgotten his promise to the Filipino people. In his four years of absence, battles had been fought over the smallest of atolls—coral islands just large enough for an airstrip and a garrison. Even as the Japanese were uprooted from these strongholds, they maintained a solid footing in the Philippines. The island nation had suffered through the years of the enemy occupation. It was home to prison camps— housing prisoners of war and those accused of aiding the allies.

Time was now running out for the Japanese. Spread thin—with troops, equipment, and resources dwindling—they fought a desperate defensive campaign. On October 24, 1944, an Allied force landed on the eastern coast of the island of Leyte. The battle for the Philippines would last for two months, but at its end MacArthur emerged victorious. Many months earlier he had overseen the island’s surrender, now he commanded its repossession. His promise was fulfilled.

The war dragged on. In Europe, it was over, but the Pacific was yet to be won. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had led the nation through the war, sickened and died. His vice president, Harry S. Truman, was sworn into office. His first decision was one unlike anything he could have ever imagined. Should he expend hundreds of thousands of lives to take Japan by land, or make them a gruesome example of a newly developed atomic bomb being dropped from the relative safety of the air? Truman deliberated and made his choice.

The war ended in the blink of an eye. The devastation of a pair of atomic bombs shocked Japan into surrender. They sued for peace, and peace was given. Except for the formalities, the war was over. Over, but the temporary peace was bought with an astronomical price of human life. Millions would never return to their grieving families.

For the COs, it was a return to a new normal. They were returning to their families, their churches, and their homes. But the war had changed them. Months and years had been spent away from spiritual oversight. Many would settle into their communities, raising their families and living out their Christian faith. Yet there had been casualties, with some, like Harry Litwiller, having given up their faith. The battle had been fierce, and not all its contestants had been wearing the full biblical armor available to them.

Both MacArthur and the victorious COs persevered to the end. Each believed in their cause, MacArthur in the devastation and destruction of war, and the COs in the redemption and peace of a fully surrendered life. They parallel each other here only in the fact that they both fought. The crucial difference is in what they fought for, and how they fought for it.