Battleground, The Chaplain

Now it’s nearly Christmas, and here we are in beautiful Bastogne enjoying the winter sports. And the $64 dollar question is: ‘Was this trip necessary?’ I’ll try to answer that, but my sermons, like everything else in the Army, depend on the situation and the terrain. So I assure you this is gonna be a quickie! ‘Was this trip necessary?’ Well, let’s look at the facts. Nobody wanted this war but the Nazis. A great many people tried to deal with them, and a lot of ‘em are dead. Millions have died for no other reason except that the Nazis wanted ‘em dead. So, in the final showdown, there was nothing left to do except fight. There’s a great lesson in this. And those of us who’ve learned it the hard way aren’t gonna forget it. We must never again let any force dedicated to a super-race, or a super-idea, or super-anything become strong enough to impose itself upon a free world. We must be smart enough and tough enough in the beginning to put out the fire before it starts spreading. My answer to the $64 dollar question is, yes. This trip was necessary. As the years go by, a lot of people are gonna forget, but you won’t. And don’t ever let anybody tell you you were a sucker to fight in the war against fascism. And now, Jerry permitting, let us pray. Let us pray for this fog to lift. Almighty God. The organist is hitting those bass notes a little too loud for me to be heard. So let us each pray in his own way, to his own God.