In all my years of being a WW2 soldier I have never met a braver man than David Scott. He was always a pretty quiet, calm, kind man but, the main thing that separated him from us is the fact that he was a devout Christian. Every day, whenever he had free time, he would spend most of his time in his Bible he had and pray.

We would often make fun of him for it and call him “Rev. Dave.” Even though we did this to him, he would pay no mind to us and just continue reading or praying. But for some reason, sometimes he would tell us the strangest things. For example, he believed that God sent His son Jesus to die for our sins, and on third day he ross again! That always confused me and I found it hard to believe. I mean why would God do that right? But little did I know that God was going to take a horrible experience I had to show me His love.

It was a quiet winter afternoon on December 24th, 1944. I was playing cards in a foxhole with my friends around the fortified town of Bastogne, Belgium. I was there with 101st Airborne Division to help defend the town against the Nazis. For about over a week, the Germans had been attacking that town and had been pushing towards the Allied port of Antwerp. If we lost the town, the Allied front would be split in two.

All the while, it quiet on the battlefield. When suddenly I heard a whistle like sound

coming from the sky. “Incoming mortar shells! Take cover!”, I said. As the mortar shells fell, they were followed by the shouts of Nazi troops charging out of the forest. “Nazis incoming!” shouted David as he opened fire. The field all of a sudden erupted with the sounds of gunfire. I reached down for my gun but, then I remembered had left it in my foxhole. So I ran straight to my foxhole and made it safe and sound. But just as I got there I suddenly heard…

“John! Get over here”! My friend Tom cried. When I peeked out I saw that he was trying to defend his position on my right. So I raced over there and jumped straight into the trench right beside him. “So, how do you like your White Christmas so far John?”, asked Tom. “Oh, it’s just great Tom!”, I said as I shot down a Nazi soldier. “But could we go back to the US and celebrate there?” “That would be great but, we might have to celebrate it here this year.”, he said. I laughed a little but then realized he was right, I couldn’t go home.

As I continued to look I saw hundreds of German soldiers in their winter uniforms storming across the white wintery field, guns blazing. They charged at us like a swarm of angry bees looking for a victim. Just then I saw a Nazi soldier take aim at me. I ducked down just in the nick time and the bullet hit the tree behind me. Then I popped back up again and fired back at him, hitting him in his left arm.

As the battle raged on, the field that was once pure white started to turn crimson red with the blood of the dead and the dying soldiers. I could see one German soldier with his face down in the snow with a pool of blood beside him. Then I looked to my left and saw one of our soldiers who was shot in the leg. As he yelled in pain, two of his comrades came and rushed him back into the forest for medical help. To be honest, I was thinking I would be the next target and that I would not be able live to see my wife and kids. As these thought raced through my mind, doubt started to 

sink in and I became paralyzed with fear.

Then I looked behind me, I saw David in his foxhole praying in the midst of the battle. He wasn’t scared, in fact he looked like he was at peace. But the thing he did next was unbelievable. He got out of his hole and started walking forward at a steady pace firing his rifle. He moved behind one tree and fired three rounds that all found their mark and continued to move forward. Then he stood behind another tree and fired a few for rounds, which found their mark. Step by step he kept moving forward which encouraged our soldiers to move up and push the enemy back. Even Tom found the courage to stand up and continued to fight. So they all began to move forward and pushed the Germans back with David leading the charge.

As the Germans saw our forces heading toward them, they began panic and started to retreat. Still leading the charge, David encouraged our men to push forward. As I looked in awe of this, I eventually found the courage to move as well. But as I ran to join the others, a German mortar shell fell right in front of David. The explosion knocked him off his feet and sent him back a few feet where landed on his back with a thud. “No!”, I cried as I rushed to my fallen friend. When I got to him, blood was running down his cheek from his mouth. I kneeled over him, as tears filled my eyes. He reached to his neck and pulled of a gold cross necklace. “This is for you.”, he said. “I want you to remember that God loves you.”

“David”, I said. “Can your God really forgive me for everything I have done?” “Yes.”, he said. He then began to cough weakly and pulled out two letters. “Please give these letters to my wife and children and tell them that I loved them enough to die for their freedom!” “Yes…Yes I will”, I replied. With that he said theses final words, “Lord, I commit my spirit into your hands” and with that he breathed his last breath.

Eventually, on December 26th our forces received help from General Patton’s Third army. But I will never forget that day, and I will never forget David Scott. God used his life to touch mine, and he showed me that I don’t need to be afraid when God’s on my side!