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Mission
Accomplished
It’s
the story of a friendship forged during one of the
worst battles of World War II,
and a promise made almost 60 years earlier, a promise
that was finally kept.
Harold
Huggins, a
U.S.
veteran of 10 major campaigns in World War II and the
last survivor of his battalion, traveled halfway
across the
United States
by train on one last mission in memory of his best
buddy.
"I’ve
had this on my mind for 57 years, trying to locate his
sister and loved ones out there in
California
," says Huggins. "Part of him lives in
me."
Huggins,
from
Albany
, IL, and Mack McClain from Marysville, CA, were best
friends in the army. They wound up together at
Anzio Beach
,
Italy
, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of World
War II. Mack told Harold that he didn’t think he was
going to make it out of there alive, so he gave Harold
some mementos, a belt, some photos, and said:
"’Give this to my sister, tell her that I love
her,’ Huggins recalls. ’You can even give her a
kiss.’"
Harold
promised that if anything happened to Mack he would do
what was asked. One day later, Mack was killed in an
artillery barrage.
After
the war, Harold looked for Mack’s sister but he
never found her until Harold’s daughter sent out
e-mails to various veterans groups inquiring about
Mack’s relatives. Some
California
veterans found Mack’s sister, Grace, whose last name
had changed because she married.
"We
have always hoped and prayed that we would meet
somebody that would tell us about Mack," says
Grace.
On
Thursday, August 2, 2001, at the place where his
buddy’s name is engraved in marble at the Veterans
Memorial in
Marysville
,
CA
, Harold Huggins kept that promise he made 57 years
earlier. He
met Mack’s sister for the very first time, gave her
the kiss that Mack asked Harold to deliver, and
entrusted to her the mementos from his fallen friend.
For
an old soldier who wouldn’t give up his search for a
buddy’s long lost sister, there was a feeling of
mission
accomplished.
Friend,
I want you to know about another Friend who died for
you. In
fact, He voluntarily gave His life so that you and I
might live (1 Thessalonians 5:10).
"Greater
love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life
for his friends” (John 15:13).
Jesus Christ demonstrated this great love and
died for our sins so that you and I might live with
Him forever in heaven.
God’s
mission of salvation was accomplished when Jesus paid
the price for our sins on the cross (Ephesians
1:7). Through
Jesus, we can have forgiveness and eternal life!
We must accept His gift by believing
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turning from our sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confessing
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of our sins
(Acts 2:38). Then,
if we will live faithfully to Him (1 John 1:7), one
day He will take us to live with Him forever (John
14:1-3).
Won’t
YOU allow His
Mission
to be accomplished in you?
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* From
SermonCentral.com and report by KSBW, “World War II Vet Accomplishes
57-Year
Mission
,” at http://www.ksbw.com/news/902595/detail.html
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