VETERANS DAY: Iwo Jima: young Marine's faith endured
By Neisha Roberts/The Alabama Baptist - Posted at Baptist Press:
BLOUNT SPRINGS, Ala. (BP) -- Horace Lee was 12 when he "gave my heart to the Lord" at a Baptist church in Alabama; 17 when he entered the Marine Corps in 1940; and 21 when he was wounded in Iwo Jima as the U.S. wrested the strategic island from the Japanese.
"God taught me a great deal" in the military, Lee, now 91, said. "The Marine Corps complemented God's work by their fellowship … because it's teamwork and fellowship, and if you don't have that then you cannot depend on that fellow behind you....
"It's similar to the Great Commission, working together to go and tell."
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| Marines burrow in the volcanic sand on the beach of Iwo Jima. Horace Lee, now 91, was among the Marines who first stormed the island's beaches to wrest the strategic island from the Japanese. Photo from commons.wikimedia.org |
BLOUNT SPRINGS, Ala. (BP) -- Horace Lee was 12 when he "gave my heart to the Lord" at a Baptist church in Alabama; 17 when he entered the Marine Corps in 1940; and 21 when he was wounded in Iwo Jima as the U.S. wrested the strategic island from the Japanese.
"God taught me a great deal" in the military, Lee, now 91, said. "The Marine Corps complemented God's work by their fellowship … because it's teamwork and fellowship, and if you don't have that then you cannot depend on that fellow behind you....
"It's similar to the Great Commission, working together to go and tell."
The second-oldest of five children, Lee grew up on his family's cattle farm. His parents were members of Hopewell Baptist Church in Marion, Ala. After three years of drought in the 1930s, the family could no longer sustain their farm and had to sell and move to Selma, where they purchased new land and harvested cotton and corn.
On the other side of the world, Japan had conquered most of the coastal area of China in 1937. Germany had invaded Poland and France by the middle of 1940. At the time the U.S. was holding to neutrality.
But, Lee recalled, "I felt it was my duty to defend my country. ... We looked on it that the war ... was inevitable."
On the other side of the world, Japan had conquered most of the coastal area of China in 1937. Germany had invaded Poland and France by the middle of 1940. At the time the U.S. was holding to neutrality.
But, Lee recalled, "I felt it was my duty to defend my country. ... We looked on it that the war ... was inevitable."
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