Suddenly, the two soldiers saw a piece of shrapnel lying nearby. Jim grabbed at his chest and felt his metal prayer book in his breast pocket.
He turned to the soldier next to him and asked why he had slapped him. Suddenly he felt something strike his chest. Jim steeled his nerves in preparation for a charge. If God would save him from this war, he would become a priest-just like his pastor had prayed for when he was a small boy. Pinned down in a foxhole, Jim made a promise to himself and to God. That winter, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He brought along a small silver prayer book with a metal cover and thought of his mom and dad every time he opened it. He joined a new infantry unit and shipped out in 1944. Jim was shattered, but knew he had to press on. A few weeks later, word came from the front that Jim’s old unit had been wiped out in battle. They had finished training, but he had not. When he returned to basic training, he learned that his infantry unit had shipped out without him. His parents were gone, and he was about to ship out overseas. Mary’s, he wondered what God’s plan for him truly was. A devastated Jim left basic training for the funeral. It was the last time Jim saw his father, who died three months later. When it was time for Jim to ship out, his father saw him off at the train station. Jim received a temporary deferment to help his father. But shortly afterward, his mother died, leaving his father alone to manage their farm. When Jim graduated from high school, the US had entered World War II, and Jim enlisted in the Army on his 18th birthday. Jim wasn’t sure if he loved the parish that much-he was, after all, a boy with dreams of adventure and seeing the world.Īnd the world has a funny way of interfering with one’s plans. Mary’s School.Įvery day, his pastor told him, he was praying for Jim to become a priest when he grew up. Mary’s Parish in Lake Church, Wisconsin as they welcomed him to service, and when he was old enough to attend school, he of course attended St. Every Sunday, he loved listening to the bells of St. One of nine children, he loved his family, loved working on their farm, and loved his church.