All Successful Accomplishment Demands Courage

Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in an area straddling the Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders as well as the French department of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, part of which makes up the area known as French Flanders.

The name Flanders Fields is particularly associated with battles that took place in the Ypres Salient, including the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Passchendaele. For most of the war, the front line ran continuously from south of Zeebrugge on the Belgian coast, across Flanders Fields into the center of Northern France before moving eastward- -and it was known as the Western Front.

And now comes a story from the battle trenches of World War I where Allied forces fought the German War Machine in what is commonly known as Flanders Fields:

“It was a few weeks before Christmas 1917. The beautiful snowy landscapes of Europe were blackened by months of scorched earth war and carnage.

The trenches on one side held the German forces and on the other side the trenches were filled with Americans. It was the height of the land battle of World War I. The intense exchange of gunshots and artillery rounds was deafening. Separating the two fighting forces was a very narrow strip of bare crater filled ground that was known as “No-Man’s Land.” Death and total destruction laid bare the complete strip of blackened land. A young German soldier attempting to cross that “No Man’s Land,” had been shot and had become entangled in the rows of barbed wire that stretched across the length and breath of this barren killing field. As he lay there writhing in pain, he cried out in anguish, and then racked with greater pain he continued to whimper.

Between the artillery shells that were continually exploding, all the Americans in that sector could hear the young German soldier’s screams for assistance and mercy. When one American soldier could stand it no longer, he low-crawled up and out of the American trenches and on his stomach crawled to that dying German soldier. When the Americans realized what he was doing, they ceased firing, but the Germans continued. It was then that a German officer realized what the young American was doing and he then ordered his men to cease their firing. Now there was a weird silence all across the No-Man’s Land. On his stomach, the American made his way to that German soldier and disentangled him from the cutting grasp of the barbed wire. He stood up with the German soldier in his arms, walked straight to the German trenches, and placed him in the waiting arms of his comrades. Having done so, he turned and started back towards the American trenches.

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder that spun him around. There stood a battle-hardened German officer who had won the Iron Cross, the highest German military honor medal for bravery in combat. The officer ripped it from his own uniform and placed it on the young American, who then walked back to the American trenches.

When both soldiers were safely in their respective trenches, they then resumed the insanity of war!

Regardless the circumstances or activities, all real and lasting success will always be accomplished by the efforts and labors of men and women who are willing to risk everything they have for the cause to accomplish their purpose.

Blessings and Encouragement to You………………