WAR PHILOSOPHY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20864, 17 August 1942, Page 2

WAR PHILOSOPHY

MAORI OFFICER’S LETTER FAITH IN GOD'S PLAN In a striking letter to his mother, who lives near Wairoa, an officer in the Maori Battalion, now serving in the Middle East, writes as follows: “In civilian life death was more or less a fear and something not thought about in thinking of oneself, but as a soldier it is a different .thing, because sacrifice of life, if necessary, is part of his career. Perhaps it is the realisation of this, or perhaps it is familiarity with death and sacrifice and suffering that makes him feel a little contemptuous of it and more philosophical in his acceptance of .the fact of death. “Many of us. of course, have found that faith in Christ’s and God’s plan for man supplies the fearless, solution to the riddle of death. I believe in God and Plis mercy for man through prayer and trust. I know and feel that I have your prayers and others’ too, and one cannot help having a fearless faith and comfort which any mortal happening cannot upset or destroy. “Most of us have only one regret and that is the sorrow that is caused our loved ones should we not return. This is the thing and not the sacrifice that hurts most of us Should I not come bade, I would like you all at home to remember me not in suffering or death or of being lost, but rather in life; in the pleasant past as. the curly-headed mischievous boy and later the irresponsible youth of college and after-years; the man who never quite grew up—more or less a play-boy. This I know to be the feeling hidden down in most soldiers’ hearts. There is no fear for ourselves and the consequences for us, but rather the consideration for you, ths old [oiks at heme ...