A local paper on the Fisher House covers the story of Jesse Claude Cooper Jr., a Merchant Marine during World War II.  His ship was torpedoed and sank, and he described his reaction to that event:

He credits God with sustaining his life.

“No other explanation, but that God had a reason for me to live and serve another day,” Cooper credited. “I was, you see, the last man to get in the last little life-rescue boat to leave the ship.”

“I was already a Christian, having been reared in church down in native Decatur, Alabama. But if I had not been a Christian, I would have become one when our ship was blown out from under us, and I realized I was still alive…I had a lot to be thankful for.”

Unlike many other professions, service in the military will very likely (and perhaps frequently) bring a servicemember face to face with his mortality.  For some, that may become their “come to Jesus” time.