A local story repeated at the Stars and Stripes covers Willard Keith Staneart, who served as an Army chaplain during Vietnam. Faced with the potential of an overwhelming attack by the Viet Cong, Staneart spoke with his battalion commander:

“He said, ‘Chaplain, every one of these young men are like my own sons. Their parents and their spouses are dependent on my getting them home safely,'” Staneart said. “He says, ‘I’ve failed. They’re all going to die tonight.'”

The commander asked Staneart to go around, pray with and counsel the men.

“I took a Bible, went around,” he said.

He was welcomed with open arms.

The attack they expected never came:

At a reunion 40 years later, the same battalion commander told Staneart: “Well, we know there were 5,000 (Viet Cong). We know they were intending to wipe us out. (But) the next morning, the Army could not find a trace of one single Viet Cong. They were totally gone.”

“Sir, why do you think they didn’t attack us that night?” Staneart said. “He got a big smile on his face and he says, ‘Chaplain, I think you know the answer. The answer is simple. God delivered us that night, and nobody will deny that.'”

Well, some may deny it. But they’ll be wrong.

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