Adams County’s State Senator Doug Mastriano used his Christian Nationalist beliefs to argue in a recent Gettysburg Times opinion piece that the battlefield successes of United States military forces are part of his Christian God’s plan for our nation and that two of the American army’s greatest accomplishments, including George Washington’s escape from the British army on August 27, 1776, and the December 1944 liberation of the city of Bastogne in Belgium during WW II, were literally the result of miracles performed by his God.
One of our (Lembo’s) fathers was in General George Patton’s Third Army that liberated Bastogne and we together wrote a book about his World War II experiences, “A Combat Engineer with Patton’s Army: The Fight Across Europe With the 80th “Blue Ridge” Division.”
Despite Mastriano’s assertions, a prayer Patton had his chaplain write did not break the German siege and liberate Bastogne: Sergeant Frank T. Lembo and thousands of other soldiers from Patton’s Third Army did. We owe our thanks to the 19,000 American soldiers who died in this battle.
Mastriano’s column makes his Christian Nationalist views clear. He literally believes a miracle from his God saved Washington’s Army when it abandoned New York City and a Christian prayer cleared the skies over Belgium and Luxembourg during the last stages of WW II.
Assigning credit for U.S. military victories to Christian prayers and “miracles” is disrespectful to our military forces, including those who performed superhuman deeds in the last two weeks of December 1944.
You can learn more about Christian Nationalism as Orrtanna resident Pamela Cooper-White discusses her recent book, “The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People are Drawn In and How to Talk Across the Divide,” at the Adams County Democratic Committee Headquarters, 24 Chambersburg St., from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. this Friday, January 6.
I fully agree with Leon and Lois’s assessment that any attempt to lay both victory and defeat at the feet of one particular God completely denies the valiant efforts of the military men and women who fight in those wars. In WWII, these military service members were the ones who strategized, fought, bled, died, suffered and, ultimately, won the Battle of the Bulge, independent from Gen. George Patton’s prayer for better weather (which had actually been formulated at a different time and point of the war in France).
That said, I submit that there is much to be said about the power of prayer – regardless of the deity, energy source or omnipotent power one identifies as God. Prayer can center an individual, focus them on a specific task ahead and help them find within themselves a strength or courage that they believe to be granted solely by their God. The inspiration that a person draws from prayer is based on their faith – even if they believe that their Higher Power was the one controlling the end results.
It’s entirely possible that many of the brave soldiers fighting in those wars found their courage, resolve, tenacity, and strategic thinking within themselves because they believed they were guided by their God. Surely, they prayed for a good outcome and protection, and surely many of them cried out for help to their God as they were dying. But regardless of how they mustered their strength and courage, THEY were the ones who determined the outcome of the battle(s). As such, Patton’s prayer for fairer weather conditions, promulgated by his chaplain, should be viewed as a battle cry and inspirational tool for his soldiers that would motivate the believers among them, not as a blanket request to one particular Higher Power who then unilaterally decided victory and defeat at will, without considering the efforts of the persons involved in the events.
Part of Mastriano’s theory seems to be based on the assumption that Americans were “favored” by their God. Yet, let’s assume that the majority of military service members of all parties involved in WWII believed in the Christian God, wouldn’t the leaders and fighters on both fronts have prayed to the same God for a good outcome? And if one side won by God’s design, doesn’t this mean God favored that victorious side? What does that tell the losing side? That God has forsaken them? That they fell out of favor with their God?
It would be discouraging to think that God (any God) would choose sides at random. The God of the Old Testament – who could be a God of wrath and vengeance – might have had certain criteria for choosing the victors and survivors. That God, seen through a political prism, is often invoked by politicians and leaders to justify the commission of atrocities or creating laws and means to oppress certain parts of the human population. But today’s “Christians,” as the word implies, are supposed to be followers of Jesus Christ of the New Testament – where God reveals himself as an unconditionally loving, merciful, and gracious deity. Surely this loving God would not favor some members of His obedient flock over the others?
I am the granddaughter, daughter, sister, wife, and mother of veterans from both the German and American Armies. A few of my family members actually battled each other, on opposing sides, in WWII. Did God favor certain of my loved ones over the others? Germany’s Wehrmacht soldiers fighting at the Battle of the Bulge wore belt buckles with the inscription “Gott Mit Uns.” They believed that God was the sponsor of THEIR military endeavors, their protector and endorser, and that both victory and loss were subject to their God’s divine will. We know how that ended.
Interesting comment; thanks for adding it. I totally agree with the words you say about prayer. I think they can be a comfort and a rallying point. But as you point out, that’s not what Mastriano says. He says we were losing and all was hopeless (incorrect) and Patton had his chaplain to write a prayer (also incorrect — he’d written it weeks earlier) and the prayer caused the skies to clear so that the Allies won.
Again, thanks for your thoughts.
Disagree completely. Have either one of you been in combat?
So…you wouldn’t credit the men who fought, and especially those who gave their last full measure?? You’d just attribute the victory of Bastogne to a prayer? Do I have that right??
What is there to agree or disagree with? It’s a simple matter of facts, not opinion. Mastriano said, regarding the Bulge, that the Germans could “advance unmolested,” which is dead wrong; after the first few hours, they quickly fell behind because of Allied resistance. Anyone who’s read a book on the Bulge knows there was no “unmolested” advance.
He claims that “all hope appeared to be lost,” which is ridiculous. From the beginning of Hitler’s last gasp offensive, Hitler’s generals understood their offensive had no chance of success – and so did the Allies. Ike and the Allied high command saw the German offensive as a stiff challenge, but a major opportunity – to kill Germans out in the open that he had expected to deal with the next spring, behind the Siegfried Line. No “all hope appeared to be lost.” Just a calm discussion with Patton, asking how many troops he could attack with, and when. (“3 divisions in 72 hours”).
And the Weather Prayer? Mastriano claims that “as the Germans rejoiced in their seemingly triumph, General George Patton had his chaplain write a prayer that would change the course of history.” This isn’t a matter to agree or disagree with. It is flat-out wrong. Not only did the prayer not magically part the clouds over Bastogne as Sen. Mastriano claims: it had nothing at all to do with Bastogne.
It was written several weeks earlier, and 130 miles away, during a completely different campaign. That’s why the prayer talks about “these immoderate rains,” which is the weather Patton had to contend with, in November, in the French Province of Lorraine. Doing research for the George C. Scott movie, Hollywood discovered the prayer and thought it was a cool story, so they put the prayer in the Bastogne campaign. Most people understand that Hollywood is not a valid historical research source, but the former Army War College professor doesn’t understand this. Perhaps we can begin to understand why his “research” on Sgt. York has been widely rejected.
My favorite Gettysburg monument is the Andrew Sharpshooter’s monument, just north of the Angle. It shows a relief of a sharpshooter at work and on the face of the monument it says, “We put our trust in God … but we kept our powder dry.” That is a farmer realistic assessment than Mastriano’s absurd “God on our side” claims.
Ms. Lembo, Mr. Reed – I wholeheartedly agree.