The Hitler Dilemna by Carolyn Twede Frank

Author:Carolyn Twede Frank
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2014-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Off to the Front Line

1948

A smile came to Max as he thought about his old training camp buddy Randolf. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to the guy in the limp tie, the red having long since faded into gray as twilight filled the bus. Ted and Randolf had both fallen into the same quagmire—abandoning God when they needed Him the most. And how had Max traipsed off to war with fear held at bay?

Because he had not abandoned God.

The answer warmed Max’s chest as he replayed those times he had clung to that promise from the Holy Ghost. A lump formed in his throat as he remembered how that promise had kept him safe once he arrived at the front.

* * *

Autumn 1944

The bus’s gray seats seemed even more ragged this time, and they were loaded with three boys in each one. Max quit examining them, readjusted his weight, and stared out the cracked window. The bouncing view of the countryside through the window offered little in the way of comfort, with its barren branches and falling leaves lacking their usual autumn colors. It was as if Mother Nature had decided to protest the war in her own way.

He turned away from the window and moved his attention back into the interior of the crowded bus. Only the sound of the engine and the jostle of the rickety chassis could be heard. Silent fear etched its mark across sullen faces of the novice soldiers, their eyes devoid of light, never moving, ever staring. It was like an eerie calm before a storm. The past few days, at a place called Karlsruhe, they had learned how to operate 88mm antiaircraft cannons—supposedly. Boot camp was behind them and their training was complete. There would be no more practice. What lay ahead would be the real thing. By the blank expressions on their faces, it was clear that no divine voice had spoken to these young soldiers, promising to bring them home safe if they did their duty.

Max wished he could stretch out his arms and share his calm with these fellow soldiers, boys he hardly knew. At least he could break the silence. He turned to a lanky boy sitting next to him on the tattered gray seat. “What’s your name?”

“Albert.” The lanky boy pointed to a husky kid with broad shoulders and a square face. “And this is my buddy, Herman.”

“I’m Max.”

Silence.

Max sensed he should say more. “Are you guys nervous?”

They both nodded their heads.

“We’ll be okay,” Max said.

“Y—ya really think so?” Albert almost whispered.

“Ja, I do.”

The feeling permeating the bus suddenly felt as if it reached out and infected Max. How could he tell those boys such things? Was he really that sure? When it got right down to it, he didn’t want to go out to the front lines and man those huge cannons any more than any of the other soldiers did.

“You’ve just got to trust God to protect you,” Max said, as much for himself as for his seat partners.

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