Del Combs was born on a farm in rural Kentucky 86 years ago. He is the step-father of Judy Rose, a member of our congregation in Cincinnati.

The son of a logger, Del remembers growing up working with a team of mules pulling logs out of the woods, hauling them to the saw mill. His dad owned the mill as did his granddad before him.

Logging is never an easy job, but mules were sometimes stubborn, winters were muddy and sometimes so cold the steel chains froze. Most of the trees were made into timbers for the coal mines so they were large.

Del joined the army in 1942. WWII was in full swing and he spent 13 weeks in boot camp before being sent to England. When D Day came Del was sent to Normandy 12 days after the invasion started. Barely 19 years old when he joined the army, he had never traveled much beyond the back woods of his birth, and never outside Kentucky. Mostly, he stayed around home and worked. Now he was in Europe facing an evil regime bent on world domination.

Short, lithe, self-reliant and familiar with the outdoors he became the scout for his regiment. He went out ahead of the troops and reconnoitered the area. But he worked alone while the support personnel stayed some distance behind.

Once he was following the course of a creek when he came upon a sizable platoon of German’s with 10 tanks on a flat stretch of land next to the creek. He took cover in the creek, under the roots of a large tree where the water had washed out the ground. Once, a German century stood next to the tree directly over him to check the area for American soldiers. A clod of dirt fell into the water and the century looked around for the cause but never saw Del, only inches away.

Del stayed there all night, his feet in the water, until the enemy soldiers left early the next morning when he could escape back to his outfit.

But the highlight of his military career came when he was leading a scouting expedition into German territory. He was about 100 yards ahead of the team when a German soldier appeared waving a white flag. Del called back for his support group to hold their fire. “These soldiers want to surrender,” he yelled to his mates. A group of German soldiers came out to talk with him.

Del had a hard time getting the commander of the group to remove his weapon. “If you want to surrender, lay down you weapon!” Del said as he poked the officer’s pistol holster with his rifle. “I was scared to death with so many German soldiers around me,” he said. Then one of the soldiers said, “Soldier, he wants to surrender to your Commander. He’s a Commander too.”

So Del allowed the officer to keep his weapon and the German soldiers motioned for the rest of their outfit to come out into the open. Incredibly, over 20,000 German soldiers surrendered to Del Combs that day and Del and his three friends marched them nearly 2 miles back to the company commander so the German officer could surrender to the American commander.

Del was told that Hitler wanted his soldiers to fight to the death but the German officer knew that was foolish.

The background to the amazing surrender is that the Russian army was approaching from the opposite side of town. The Germans knew their position was hopeless and surrender was inevitable. They wanted to surrender to the American army because the Americans would treat them well.

One more story from the adventures of Del Combs. He told about a time his regiment was marching toward Germany and they came upon a large deserted jewelry store in a French town from which the German’s were retreatig. It was a long store next to a river. It was filled with merchandise and unprotected. The American officers gave the command for everyone to leave the store alone. No one was to take any of the jewelry. No one did.

It’s a remarkable testimony to the character of the American G.I. Even Nazi soldiers recognized the integrity of American soldiers. They were humane and honest.

As we approach Thanksgiving Day, let us come before God with a grateful heart for the same reason the original pilgrim’s did. That God has blessed us with a nation that is free. Let us give thanks that God gave us men who were willing to sacrifice for our freedom, men like Del Combs. He left his farm in Kentucky to go to Europe to face a tyrant who wanted to enslave the world. If it weren’t for him, and hundreds of thousands of others like him, we would not be free.

By the way, I told you Del Combs is 86 years old. Did I tell you he is dying of cancer and has only a short time to live? If you are grateful as I am, take a minute to write him a card while he can still read it. Tell him “Thanks for helping preserve the freedom for us to live in a great country!”

Del & Zee Combs
555 Marie Drive
Alexandria, KY 41001

Until next time,