The origin of this particular column arises out of the confluence of events. The first was reading the obituary of Donald McPherson, a World War II naval aviator and fighter who died at the age of 103. The other was a news story commemorating the 80th anniversary of the official end of World War II with the signing of the surrender treaty aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.
Mr. McPherson is one of the last of that extraordinary generation of men who left their homes and loved ones and devoted years of their lives to defeating the manifest evil of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
It is time to remind ourselves how much all of us owe to (depending on one’s age) our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and uncles, great uncles, etc. for their sacrifice and courage in putting their lives on the line to defend our freedom. Many of them were away from home and loved ones for several years (I know personally of men who were overseas for over 3 years before they could come home to wives and children who were born to their pregnant wives after their departure).
Many of these World War II veterans carried with them physical scars and terrible memories of the things they experienced and the friends they saw killed in action.
What a generation of men. No wonder they were called the “greatest generation.” Raised during the Great Depression, often in economic deprivation, they fought and won a world war and then came home and built the greatest economy the world had ever seen over the next 40 years.
Ensign Donald McPherson, who passed away at 103 years of age, is a classic example of this remarkable breed of men. Raised on a farm in Nebraska, he enlisted in the Navy at 19 years of age. After finishing flight school, he eventually joined an aircraft squadron aboard the aircraft carrier Essex in early 1945. During his first combat mission, he shot down a Japanese bomber. He qualified as an “ace,” having shot down five enemy aircraft in combat, receiving three Distinguished Flying Crosses and four Air Medals, and, along with other aces, was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2015.
McPherson related the story that on August 6, 1945, he noticed that no planes were flying on or around his carrier, a very unusual circumstance. The ship’s public address system came on and said, “If you look to the west, you see a big mushroom cloud. The United States has dropped an atomic bomb.” Little did he know that the mushroom cloud from Hiroshima signaled the end of the war.
He came home after the war, returned to work on his family’s farm, married, started a family and became a U.S. Postman and mail carrier for 30 years. He was active in his local Methodist church, was a Scoutmaster, and helped organize softball and baseball leagues.
McPherson and his wife (who died in 1998) had 2 sons and 2 daughters and 45 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
What an incredible generation of young men. We need to tell our children and our grandchildren about their grandfathers and great-grandfathers and what extraordinary men they were and the extraordinary things they did.
I have made sure that my children know about their grandfather’s sacrificial service in World War II (13 battle stars as a sailor in the Pacific, including the first and second battle of the Coral Sea, Midway, and Leyte Gulf). My Dad came home, started a family with my Mom, worked for 25 years as a welder and then as a housing inspector, served as a deacon in a Baptist church, coached Little League baseball and served as the Baptist version of a Scoutmaster in our church.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the death of one of the very last of our World War II aces, let us pause as a nation and express gratitude for all their sacrifices that we might live in freedom and liberty.
When my parents reached that age where they were sending family pictures, etc. to my brother and me (preparing to move to smaller living arrangements) they sent some pictures of my mother and father in 1946, just before I was born. My oldest daughter said, “How old was grandpa?” I said, “He was 24.” She replied, “He looks so old.” I replied, “He had just been through four years of war. That will age you.”
I pray we will all take the occasion to reflect on their sacrifice and the lives they lived and how much all of us owe them individually and collectively. May we commit to living lives worthy of their sacrifices.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (Princeton, magna cum laude); D.Phil. (Oxford); Th.M (New Orleans Seminary). Dr. Land served as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary from July 2013 until July 2021. Upon his retirement, he was honored as President Emeritus and he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology & Ethics. Dr. Land previously served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) where he was also honored as President Emeritus upon his retirement. Dr. Land has also served as an Executive Editor and columnist for The Christian Post since 2011.
Dr. Land explores many timely and critical topics in his daily radio feature, “Bringing Every Thought Captive,” and in his weekly column for CP.
