Remarkable. Timely. Coincidence?

English: Omaha Beach landscape nowadays Русский: Пляж Омаха 67 лет спустя. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I just received this email. I mentioned this man in an earlier post.

Greetings to all,

I don’t have all of the facts yet, but what I know has left me close to tears as I write this. Janet’s sister, Gwen, called awhile ago to tell us that her pastor had contacted her and told her that she had received an email from a man in France who was using a metal detector on a battle site in Normandy and found Floyd’s dog tag. Okay, now I’m in tears. To receive this news on the day before Veteran’s day is so much more than a coincidence, it’s just another indication that our God moves in mysterious ways, and the powerful message has touched me deeply.

Floyd was Gwen and Janet’s dad, and he died on August 4th of this year. Floyd served in the Third Armored Division in WWII. They landed on Omaha Beach a few days after D-Day and proceeded inland where they soon encountered the bocage country, the French Hedgerows. That’s where Floyd was injured by a German aerial artillery burst, which sent a piece of shrapnel down through his back and through a lung. That’s where he must have lost the dog tag. He was immediately treated in France, but was quickly sent to a hospital in England where they removed the damaged lung. Following a long recovery, he rejoined the Third Armored Division just in time for the Battle of the Bulge, and served with that unit until the end of the war.

To receive this news at this time just leaves me in awe. Gwen stated that the man had emailed Pastor Jess and told her that he found the dog tag. He said that he then went online to look up the name and found Floyd’s obituary, which led him to Pastor Jess. There are some pictures coming and I can’t wait to see them. Naturally, I would expect that there will be much more contact with the man who found the dog tag, and who knows what stories may come after that.

More coming,

………..