Roy’s Story

The tropical night air hung heavy over their heads, mixed with humidity and a strange sense of danger. Silently, the platoon of American soldiers crept along a ridge atop a hill overlooking the jungle. Underneath, a maze of pill boxes, tunnels and bunkers wove their way through the mountain, filled with enemy soldiers. Suddenly, the midnight quiet was shattered with a hail of gun fire and explosions. “Grenade!” someone shouted. Courageously, one young soldier, named Roy, dove in the direction the ordinance had been tossed to protect his wounded friend and to flip the grenade away from the rest of his platoon. What happened next would change his life forever and can only be described as a miracle! Our God is a God of miracles, and He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

On July 8, 1943, Roy was drafted into the United States Army. He was nine- teen years old and 119 lbs. World War II had begun nearly four years earlier on September 1, 1939. After boot camp at Fort Hood in Texas, Private Roy William Gibson was sent to Sacramento, California, where he was assigned to the 81^st Infantry. Roy’s next stop was San Diego, California, where he boarded a ship for the Palaui Islands, five hundred miles due east of the Philippines. Specifically, he was assigned to the island of Peleliu. His platoon followed the Marines to this dangerous island to build it up and secure it. The island had strategic importance in the Pacific Ocean, as it was not far from Japan. Peleliu was filled with deep caves and hilly terrain. The Japanese were hiding where they could and were using very deadly surprise warfare tactics. More than fifty percent of the US soldiers sent to this island did not survive.

On that fateful evening of October 22, 1944, Roy’s platoon was on a high hill when they smelled food cooking. They realized enemy troops were nearby. Sure enough, a skirmish ensued, and a hand grenade was thrown into the midst of their platoon! The soldiers had been taught to scoop and toss hand grenades that landed nearby. It was very dark that night, and the darkness caused limited visibility. As Roy shielded his fellow soldier who was already wounded, he scooped and tossed what appeared to be the grenade. He found out, in the pitch-black darkness, he had scooped and tossed a rock instead.

The grenade exploded, and Roy was hit. Roy’s fellow-soldier was killed, so the rest of his platoon thought Roy must be dead as well, but when they started to pull out, Roy yelled, “I’m coming with you,” and he began doing somersaults down the hill! This was beyond incredible! He should have been dead, but he wasn’t even unconscious.

A fellow soldier picked Roy up, threw him over his shoulder and started running down the hill. Roy couldn’t walk and was bleeding profusely. A Mississippi fullback, also a platoon member, saw them halfway down the hill, took Roy and ran him to the Medics. Roy had worked with the Chap- lain and knew him well. The Chaplain saw him and said, “Gibson, what can I do for you?” Roy appeared to be at death’s door, but, amazingly, he asked the Chaplain to go through the surgery with him and prevent the doctors from cutting off his injured limbs. Usually, on the front lines of WWII, there was no time to do repair surgery, so damaged limbs were simply removed.

After the initial surgeries, Roy lost half of his right hand, half of his right foot and had all kinds of shrapnel throughout his body. He was put on a ship for Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he spent one day shy of a year at Army General Hospital, previously Haddon Hall, now known as Resorts. He had additional surgeries and a great deal of re- habilitation which enabled him to walk again and use his strengthened right hand very well. The shrapnel he carried in his body for the rest of his life was a constant reminder of God’s mercy and grace. Roy lived a total of ninety-six years.

Roy was affectionately called “Uncle Billy” by his family back in North Carolina. Years later, he learned that at the precise time he was wound- ed in the Pacific, a young niece of his, back in the States, was awakened and compelled to run to her parent’s bedroom crying, “We need to pray for Uncle Billy right now!”

A coincidence? Not at all! That night on the battlefield, Roy was miraculously saved from physical death. The medical professionals were never able to explain why he hadn’t died. It seemed impossible! It made no sense, but “with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). Could it be that God was supernaturally protecting Roy, one of His children, because He had plans for him? Yes! His favorite verses were “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

When Roy was about fifteen years old, he realized he was one of the “all [who] have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We have all either lied, cheated, stolen, blasphemed, cursed, disobeyed our parents, coveted, lusted or many of the above. According to the Bible, Roy understood that his sin deserved judgment in hell for all eternity. “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a). Yet, he also heard that God’s love provided a perfect substitute, which is Jesus Christ, who paid for our sins with His shed blood and death on the cross of Calvary two thousand years ago. “God commendeth (displayed) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Roy recognized he needed to receive Jesus into his heart as his Savior, so he prayed a simple prayer, admitted he was a sinner and asked God to save him, believing Jesus died and rose again for him. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). After he had been saved spiritually, Roy heard the Lord’s promises that He would never leave him nor forsake him, and that Jesus never fails. Roy held tightly to those promises and believed them with all his heart. Not even a hand grenade could blast them away!

Do you have a hope that cannot be shaken? Have you had all your sins forgiven? Are you sure you will spend eternity in Heaven? You can be sure, and you can be sure today! If you, like Roy, will recognize your sin has offended God and deserves judgment, then repent and believe the gospel, you can be absolutely sure! Jesus Christ shed His blood and died in your place. Then, three days later, He rose again, conquering sin and death and Hell. All this He did for you to purchase your forgiveness and your home in Heaven. If, right now, you will admit your guilt before God and believe Christ died in your place and rose again, He will save you. Won’t you receive Him right now and secure your own salvation that nothing can shake?

Simply call on the Lord and pray something like this, “Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned and broken your law, and because of this, I deserve judgment! Yet I believe your Word that you died on the cross, shed your blood and rose again for me! Right now I receive you as my only Savior. Come into my heart, wash away my sin, and give me eternal life! Thank you, Jesus. Amen.”

If you just believed and called on the Lord, He saved you! That is His promise! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Please contact us to tell us of your decision to receive Jesus and scan the QR code to discover what to do next! – Carol Gibson

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