Story of the Week, July 31, 2009, Angel in the Army
Dennis Fredrickson of Culver City, California, was drafted into the military during the Vietnam War, and like many servicemen and women, he believes in small miracles. When you’ve come that close to death, veterans say, it’s easy to recognize the hand of God.
In fact, Dennis believes that the first miracle he received during this time was a case of double pneumonia from standing guard duty out in the rain all night on the base in Oklahoma, and then working a 20-hour shift before finally going to the hospital. “Spinal meningitis was going around then,” he says, “and although I didn’t get it, the pneumonia was probably the reason that I was not sent to Vietnam, but to Germany.”
He was a good soldier and moved up in rank. “One day we received a call that bullets could be heard overhead,” Dennis says. “My sergeant and I went out to investigate. Sure enough, we could hear the whiz of bullets flying thru the air.” But who was shooting? There was no war going on here. The men finally figured out that the bullets were coming from a hill to their left. There were vineyards on the hill, and a house on top of it. Carefully they climbed, then stopped again to listen. “Suddenly a pair of hands with thumbs over my ears grabbed my head and yanked it back, just as a bullet passed,” Dennis says. “I turned around to see who was there, and no one was. I can still see the face of my senior sergeant when those hands grabbed me. His eyes widened as if he was seeing something that he just couldn’t talk about.” A few minutes later police reached the house, and found the farmer drunk and shooting his rifle.
“Years later, when my angel came again, I was walking to a nearby fast food to get some lunch,” Dennis says. “I was approaching a corner when a growling dog came around it and headed straight for me.”
“Lord, have mercy!” Dennis prayed, then froze, knowing he was going to be attacked. The dog never stopped, and it leaped for his throat. Then Dennis saw an arm in a white robe, similar to what Jesus is pictured wearing, and the arm pushed the dog away. Almost immediately, the dog put its tail between its legs and, whining, ran back around the corner.
Stunned, Dennis saw a woman come out of the corner house and head for her car. “Hey, your dog almost bit me!” Dennis called to her.
She shrugged. “Not my dog…” and got in the car.
It was a time for a good argument. But Dennis couldn’t do it. Faced with what might have been, he simply closed his eyes, and thanked Jesus for sending an angel to protect him.
Dennis has never forgotten these close calls, and is grateful that his angel is on the job. “We are all blessed,” he says, “and are given a choice to believe or not.”
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