Russell Murdoch

I WAS DEFEATED. UTTERLY, THOROUGHLY, DEFEATED!! In what I believed to be my last moment, I turned to GOD. I risked getting my hand shot off to reach for my little New Testament, which was in my pack on top of my foxhole. With a trembling hand I flipped the pages with my thumb. I looked down to see where the pages had stopped turning. It was impossible for my hand to hold the small book steady, but I was able to make out Psalms 27.

I started to read, but I could not believe what I was reading, "WHEN MY ENEMIES CAME UPON ME, THEY STUMBLED AND FELL". Could it be this was God talking to me? "THOUGH A HOST SHOULD ENCAMP AGAINST ME, I WILL NOT FEAR." Yes, this was God's voice; loud and clear. "THOUGH WAR SHOULD RISE AGAINST ME, IN THIS WILL I BE CONFIDENT.” The Holy Spirit? I wondered. Could it be? Could it really be? But, indeed, God's unseen Angel had come to rest on my shoulder.

In the twinkling of an eye, my fear was completely gone. My nerves were calm. My strength and confidence returned, stronger than ever before. “LIFT UP YOUR HEAD – IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE I WILL SET YOU UPON A ROCK.” Once again I was able to lift up my head, take up my rifle, and help my enemies to "STUMBLE AND FALL.”

Of the 250 men of F Company that went into combat along the Villa Verde Trail in the remote mountains of Luzon, only 50 of us came marching out - on a day in March, 1945.

Russell Murdoch