Nell
11-11-2023, 02:09 PM
Robert Lee "Bull" Wolverton (1914-1944) was the commander of the American 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from 1942 until his death at Saint-Côme-du-Mont, Normandy, on D-Day, June 6, 1944, during World War II.
Despite being killed before landing on French soil, Wolverton's legacy endured, particularly on the strength of a prayer spoken to the 750 men in his battalion hours before the D-Day parachute drop behind enemy lines.
"Men, I am not a religious man and I don't know your feelings in this matter, but I am going to ask you to pray with me for the success of the mission before us. And while we pray, let us get on our knees and not look down but up with faces raised to the sky so that we can see God and ask His blessing in what we are about to do:
"God almighty,
in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy.
We do not join battle afraid.
We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that,
if You will,
use us as Your instrument for the right
and an aid in returning peace to the world.
We do not know or seek what our fate will be.
We ask only this,
that if die we must, that we die as men would die,
without complaining, without pleading and safe
in the feeling that we have done our best
for what we believed was right.
O Lord,
protect our loved ones and
be near us in the fire ahead
and with us now as we pray to you."
--Lt. Colonel "Bull" Wolverton
A few hours after giving this speech, Robert jumped over Normandy and was killed by enemy fire before touching French soil. This true American hero is now resting in peace at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, New York.
Despite being killed before landing on French soil, Wolverton's legacy endured, particularly on the strength of a prayer spoken to the 750 men in his battalion hours before the D-Day parachute drop behind enemy lines.
"Men, I am not a religious man and I don't know your feelings in this matter, but I am going to ask you to pray with me for the success of the mission before us. And while we pray, let us get on our knees and not look down but up with faces raised to the sky so that we can see God and ask His blessing in what we are about to do:
"God almighty,
in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy.
We do not join battle afraid.
We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that,
if You will,
use us as Your instrument for the right
and an aid in returning peace to the world.
We do not know or seek what our fate will be.
We ask only this,
that if die we must, that we die as men would die,
without complaining, without pleading and safe
in the feeling that we have done our best
for what we believed was right.
O Lord,
protect our loved ones and
be near us in the fire ahead
and with us now as we pray to you."
--Lt. Colonel "Bull" Wolverton
A few hours after giving this speech, Robert jumped over Normandy and was killed by enemy fire before touching French soil. This true American hero is now resting in peace at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, New York.