On Passages stories of faith and hope this Veterans Day we take a ride in a jeep with Bill during World War II.  Click on the audio link below and read along as Bill shares his story.

Host: A bullet from a sniper destroys the radio on a soldiers back!

Bill: I used to ride in the right hand side of the jeep which was actually the death seat. Snipers would always pick out the guy on the right-hand side thinking he had rank. I was always reluctant to ride there but if my Sergeant wanted to ride there, I certainly let him ride there, I never got up there, I would ride anywhere else.

Host: A man lucky with his brushes with death. This is Passages where people offer their stories of hope. I’m Dennis Benson. Today Bill shares in his own words, one dangerous moment during the war.

Bill: I would keep my rank hidden because I don’t want to draw attention to it. But we had occassions where I was carrying a radio on my back one time. And I was trying to keep liason between various groups that I was working with. And I came back to the starting point and the radio had been shot off my back. The holes through the radio and I was bleeding from my neck. And apparently a round had come through the radio and struck me in the neck and was bleeding. I suddenly realized how close I had come because one bullet through your neck would have taken care of you. And so I flicked it off, wiped it off and put a bandaid on it and thought nothing of it, until much later. I started thinking about it, problem much later, hey one bullet could have taken care of me that time. But you don’t think of those things when your young.

Host: The story of Bill’s joy for life is a gift from your Presbyterian and United Methodist friends.

We are thankful for those who have served in the military, like Bill, to defend our country!

We pray for all our military serving in harms way.