Out Of The Depths by Edgard Harrell, USMC - Book review

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (May 6, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 978-0764212604
• Also available in KINDLE format.

SYNOPSIS:

The Inspiring Story of a World War II Hero's Miraculous Survival at Sea.

July 30, 1945--The USS Indianapolis and its 1,196-man crew is making its way toward a small island in the South Pacific. The ship is sailing unescorted, assured by headquarters the waters are safe. It is midnight, and Marine Edgar Harrell and several others have sacked out on deck rather than spend the night in their hot and muggy quarters below. Fresh off a top-secret mission to deliver uranium for the atomic bombs that would ultimately end World War II, they are unaware their ship is being watched. Minutes later, six torpedoes are slicing toward theIndy . . . 

For five horrifying days and nights after their ship went down, Harrell and his shipmates had to fend for themselves in the open seas. Plagued by dehydration, exposure, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks, their numbers were cruelly depleted before they were miraculously rescued. This is one man's story of courage, ingenuity, and faith in God's providence in the midst of the worst naval disaster in U.S. history.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice.

Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

Psalm 130: 1-2 (KJV)

My thoughts:

The unforgettable story of the sinking of the USS INDIANAPOLIS as told by one of the survivors is something to behold Folks for anyone interested in US History, faith and forgiveness!

Here are the facts: On 30 July, 1945 at 0014 hours, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine sea and sank within 12 minutes.
Of the 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remainder or about 900 men, were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats, most with no food or water.
The ship was never missed by the Navy and by the time the survivors were spotted (helped by Divine intervention and a PV-1 Ventura Bomber) four days later, only 316 men were still alive.

With amazing clarity born from this ordeal, Edgar Harrell recounts with God given grace this harrowing event.
Surviving sailors and marines drifting in twelve foot swells, some seriously injured, most could not even swim, the shortage of life jackets, the sharks circling and attacking...

This horrific scenario lasted 5 days, many lost their lives also to hypothermia, seawater poisoning, succumbing to their injuries or sharks attacks yet others stayed alive, their faith placed in God's hands, their conviction rescue would eventually reached them.

I tried for one moment to imagine the survivors holding prayers for each other whilst encouraging one another to hang on and live...Nothing in the world prepared these sailors and marines for this ultimate test!

Their story did not end there however. Harrell pursues his tale with the USN account of this naval catastrophe, the subsequent trial of the USS INDIANAPOLIS' Captain, the release of declassified documents decades later of the incident and the final outcome of those findings.

An emotional read for certain, a tale of courage and faith in the Almighty, to honour those  dead and those rescued and finally the heroism of the flight crew who not only found them but remained by their sight until the last survivor was delivered out of the depths of the Pacific.

A page of History no one should ever forget. 
5 Stars!

Meet the Author:

Edgar Harrell owned and operated the Pella Window Company, Inc., Rock Island, Illinois for thirty-five years until his retirement in 1985. During the years 1970 to 1985, he served on the board of trustees of the Moody Bible Institute, in Chicago, Illinois, and has been a popular Bible teacher and lay minister throughout his adult life.  
With his wife Ola, he enjoys their two children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. As a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, Mr. Harrell speaks extensively around the United States about his experience at sea.

Please take a moment to read the names of the survivors and their mates lost a sea (HERE).
Also visit the USS INDIANAPOLIS site for additional information on this historical event (HERE)

(Photo source HERE)

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book courtesy of BETHANY HOUSE as part of its promotion. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith H. Beer, Book review

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (September 22, 1999
• ISBN-13: 978-0688166892
• Also available in KINDLE format

SYNOPSIS:

Edith Hahn was an outspoken young woman in Vienna when the Gestapo forced her into a ghetto and then into a labor camp. When she returned home months later, she knew she would become a hunted woman and went underground. With the help of a Christian friend, she emerged in Munich as Grete Denner. There she met Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party member who fell in love with her. Despite Edith's protests and even her eventual confession that she was Jewish, he married her and kept her identity a secret.

In wrenching detail, Edith recalls a life of constant, almost paralyzing fear. She tells of German officials who casually questioned the lineage of her parents; of how, when giving birth to her daughter, she refused all painkillers, afraid that in an altered state of mind she might reveal something of her past; and of how, after her husband was captured by the Soviet army, she was bombed out of her house and had to hide while drunken Russian soldiers raped women on the street.

Yet despite the risk it posed to her life, Edith created a remarkable record of survival. She saved every document and set of papers issued to her, as well as photographs she managed to take inside labor camps. Now part of the permanent collection at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., these hundreds of documents, several of which are included in this volume, form the fabric of a gripping new chapter in the history of the Holocaust -- complex, troubling, and ultimately triumphant.

My thoughts:


When I first spotted the recount of Edith Hahn Beer's survival during the Nazi regime I had never heard of U-boats or fugitives hiding in plain sight in Germany.

Edith Hahn's life and the breathtaking choices she made to live yet another day are detailed in 'The Nazi Officer's Wife', a corroborated story of one woman's survival during the Holocaust. 

There are many accounts of survivors, each one bringing us insight of a page of History we pray never to experience again but the story of one bright law student, born in Austria of Jewish descent, living as a Nazi officer's wife is amazing. 
Saving letters, documents and even photos (many of these are featured in her book), she describes her story, testament to yet another facet of human endurance in the face of adversity!

From a comfortable Austrian milieu, this outspoken young Jew was wrenched away from her family, plunged first into a ghetto, then into a labor camp only to be released into a world gone thoroughly mad where she no longer fitted.
With a false identify, she went underground and became Margrethe Denner, a 'certified German descended everyday Frau' and eventually the wife of a member of the Nazi party.

With a clarity honed by the constant fear of discovery, Edith/Grete details real everyday life for a wife and a mother in the Reich. Leaving nothing off, she paints a stark portrait of the isolation (she couldn't trust anyone), the food rationing, the clandestine radio listening to the BBC, Radio America and the birth of a little daughter she named Angelika, the only Jew child believed to be born in a Reich hospital. 

With the eventual fall of the Third Reich and the arrival of the Russian bent on revenge upon liberation,  Edith/Grete emerged once more as a Jew only to face a new regime much like the Nazis. 

This account of one woman's survival will transport readers into an era filled with danger and remind you of the difficult choices people make in order to live yet another day.

5 Stars!

Meet the Author:

Edith Hahn Beer and her daughter Angela in 1998.
Find out more about this incredible persona (HERE).

NOTE: This was a library loan and any opinion is mine only!

VE Day Remembrance

(Photo source HERE)

(Photo source Google)

(Photo source Google)

What did it feel when VE Day 8 May 1945 finally arrived?

... it was like no other day that anyone can remember. It had a flavor of its own, an extemporaneousness which gave it something of the quality of a vast, happy village fete as people wandered about, sat, sang, and slept against a slimmer background of trees, grass, flowers, and water...Apparently the desire to assist in London's celebration combusted spontaneously in the bosom of every member of every family, from the smallest babies, with their hair done up in red-white-and-blue ribbons, to beaming elderly couples who, utterly without self-consciousness, strolled up and down the streets arm in arm in red-white-and-blue paper hats. Even the dogs wore immense tricolored bows...The bells had begun to peal and, after the night's storm, London was having that perfect, hot, English summer's day which, one sometimes feels, is to be found only in the imaginations of the lyric poets...

(Source HERE)

1939 - 1945 

Let's never forget the sacrifices it took!

Faith

(Photo source Google)

Moving Mountains

The faith that can move mountains needs three ingredients to work: belief in yourself, belief in others, and the ability to draw on your inner strength.

(Source HERE).

Note: A sunny day on the island, 45 degrees F and the whole family together!
See you tomorrow!

Rescue The Captors by Russell Stendal, Book review

• Rescue the Captors: True Hostage Situation Involving Colombian Marxist Guerrillas and a Missionary Simply Using the Experience to Share the Gospel

• 
  
• 
  
• Paperback: 271 pages
• Publisher: LIFE SENTENCE Publishing; 4th edition (April 1, 2011)
• ISBN-13: 978-0983201601

SYNOPSIS:


American bush pilot Russell Stendal, on routine business, landed his plane in a remote Colombian village. Gunfire exploded throughout the town and within minutes Russell's 142 day ordeal had begun. The Colombian cartel explained that this was a kidnapping for ransom and that he would be held until payment was made.

Held at gunpoint deep in the jungle and with little else to occupy his time, Russell got ahold of some paper and began to write. He told the story of his life and kept a record of his experience in the guerrilla camp. His “book” became a bridge to the men who held him hostage and now serves as the basis for this incredible true story of how God’s love penetrated a physical and ideological jungle.

(Photo source HERE)


My thoughts:


Written from the point of view of a real life captive, Rescue the Captors quickly grabbed my attention owing to its unusual title and its real life adventure. 
(It is also worth noting the cover was the 'Best cover Winner' at the National Christian Booksellers Convention).

Captured by Guerrillas, Jungle pilot Russell Stendal kept a cool head during his ordeal. Fighting back the best he could in the circumstances, he earned the respect of some of his captors in the process. 

In 1983, Russell's view of life was that he knew all there was to life and that he was in complete control.
Held in a jungle hide out for months, his every move allowed only under the watchful eye of his guards, he soon learned to reevaluate his perception of life as God given. 

References to Aeronautics such as the tailspin only makes this pilot's account more realistic. Only in this case, it is Jesus' teaching on how to get our lives off on a positive upward spiral, the reverse of a tailspin in fact, which highlights Stendal's explanation of good versus evil. 

Given a typewriter by his abductors, Sendal's captive days turned into months while he wrote of his experience. Negotiations for his release were eventually underway, the ransom 12 million pesos. But when the family was asked to send a known article of clothing for Russell to be photograph in, his Dad sent a Bible instead!

Meanwhile a brand new understanding of Jesus' words gave the young bush pilot a unique dimension to his relationship with his captors. It was not long after that Russell was fending of questions such as: 'If Christianity is the solution to all man's problems, how is it it failed? After all, Christianity has been around for 2000 years!'

Stendal's crucial situation went not without problems and the last 30 days of his captivity, every effort was made by his captors to break him down.

RESCUE THE CAPTORS gives a clear and honest account of not only Stendal's life as a captive, but also the spiritual growth he experienced and the Christian message he readily spread amongst his abductors during those harrowing months!

Including an interesting epilogue and an in depth appendix, this is one action packed read you will not wish to put down!

Well worth 5 stars Folks (judging by how fast this copy circulated around our family!)



Meet the Author:

Russell Stendal was born in Minneapolis and raised on the mission field in Colombia, South America. He became a missionary jungle pilot at age nineteen. Almost ten years later in 1983, he was kidnapped by Marxist rebels and held hostage for five months. His book, Rescue the Captors, relates his experience, including how God worked in the hearts of the rebels.

Russell has written many other books, produced videos, and edited two Bible translations, the Spanish Reina-Valera 2000 and the Jubilee Bible in English.

Russell heads up the work of Colombia Para Cristo, which operates twelve radio stations involving more than one hundred staff and coworkers and covering much of Latin America with the gospel.
A thriving underground church has developed in remote jungle areas of Colombia. 
New high-gain antennas are now beaming the gospel message deep into areas of increasing crisis across the borders of Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, as well as throughout Colombia.

Visit this website (HERE) for additional information!


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book courtesy of LIFE SENTENCE Publishing as part of its promotion. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

One Perfect Spring

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Revell (May 6, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 978-0800722678
• Also available in KINDLE format

SYNOPSIS:

Claire Summers is a determined, independent single mother who is doing her best to make lemonade out of the lemons life has handed her. Keith Watson is a results-oriented workaholic with no time for a social life. As the executive assistant to a local philanthropic businessman, he's used to fielding requests for donations. But when a letter from Claire's eleven-year-old daughter reaches his desk, everything changes. The girl isn't asking for money, but for help finding the long-lost son of an elderly neighbor.

As Keith digs reluctantly into this complicated assignment, he has no idea how intertwined his life and Claire's will become--nor how one little girl's kindhearted request will touch so many lives and reap so many blessings.

Through compelling characters and surprising plot twists, Irene Hannon offers readers this tenderhearted story of family connections that demonstrates how life is like lilacs--the biggest blooms often come only after the harshest winters.

Here are my thoughts:



Eleven year old Haley writes a letter to philanthropist David McMillan, hoping he might help granting her next door neighbour a very special birthday gift: finding the son she gave up for adoption at birth twenty years ago. 
The unusual request lands on McMillan's executive assistant's desk and is quickly dismissed until David hears of it and dispatches his workaholic CPA to see what he can uncover. The assignation leads both men to face a most unexpected turn of events involving love and faith!

Irene Hannon writes a warm and sweet story featuring not only the people involved in this search, but also the bystanders, ending with a few emotional twists guaranteed to pull at your heart strings and a reminder if we need it, that we are always in God's hands! 

Best described as a Christian Romance novel, One Perfect Spring has the appeal readers of all ages will appreciate on one of these lovely sunny days we enjoy at this moment!

I'll close this with Hannon's quote: "Life is like lilacs, the biggest blooms come only after the harshest winters reminds us that with faith, anything is possible!"
So true!

4 Stars!

P.S. Mother's Day is coming up Folks, a good gift choice to bestow on someone!

Meet the Author:

Irene Hannon is the best-selling author of more than 35 novels. Her books have been honored with the coveted RITA Award from Romance Writers of America, the HOLT Medallion, the Reviewer's Choice Award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine and the Daphne du Maurier Award for mystery/suspense. 

Visit her website (HERE)


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book courtesy of REVELL as part of this book promotion. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC 16 CFR, Part 255 'Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I was not asked to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

Thank You!

God, we thank You for all Your gifts.

This day, this night,

These fruits, these flowers,

These trees, these waters-

With all these treasures You have endowed us.

The heat of the sun, the light of the moon,

The songs of the birds and the coolness of the breeze,

The green, green grass like a mattress of velvet,

All owe their existence to Your grace.

Dear God,

May we forever breathe the breath of Your love

And every moment be aware

of Your presence above.

~Pakistani Prayer~
(Source The Grateful Table)

Note: Breast Cancer Biopsy results NEGATIVE! Thank you Lord!