Did the "Sky Pilot" help you get through?

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Airspeed
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Did the "Sky Pilot" help you get through?

Post by Airspeed »

Given the words in the song "Sky Pilot", did the fear generated by active service make you seek reassurance from an external source, specifically God?
I have often pondered this question because war, threat to oneself, and the death of comrades, I am sure, would push the mind beyond the extremes faced by "the man in the street".
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Scorpius
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Re: Did the "Sky Pilot" help you get through?

Post by Scorpius »

I can remember March 1982 and feeling 'concerned' regarding my forthcoming invitation to the South Atlantic goings on. I recall discussing this with a fellow RAF SNCO and we decided that the mess bar was the appropriate place to overcome this!

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Re: Did the "Sky Pilot" help you get through?

Post by 511Flyer »

With regards to praying to God. I watched the 75th anniversary of D- Day programmes on TV, and when the padres were saying prayers I was thinking that the German equivalent would have been saying the same prayers when they went into battle.

How could he possibly favour one side or the other when they were both asking for the same thing? Victory? Deliverance? Safe return? Loved ones?

I don't actually believe in God, so I couldn't even hazard a guess. I actually lost religion after a difficult spell of personal tragedy, and looking back on my 80 years, I never did have a prayer answered.

My father was a regular soldier. He was a Royal Welch Fusilier when war broke out. He fought in France, Belgium, and Germany, and survived. I'm sure he prayed many times, but is that what saved him? After long and distinguished service, he was discharged in 1947 as "being no longer fit for military service" He didn't have a physical disability, but it might have been mental. Or maybe battle weariness. Who know?

I'm a service veteran myself, and a member of the Royal British Legion. Also an honorary member of the Australian RSL through a great friend of mine.

I don't attend remembrance services because of my personal beliefs, but at that time of year I think about the German men and women of my age whose fathers never returned. Possibly because my own father killed them, and that can bring a tear to my eye.

If I could stop all wars, and cure all diseases by saying prayers, I would never get off my knees. Sad to say, it's not going to happen.

Den.

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